Chapter Two
Aiden made it twelve steps.
"So."
"No."
"I didn't even ask anything."
"I know your type."
"What type?"
"Fourteen."
Aiden frowned.
He made it another six steps.
"So what level am I?"
Brittany remained silent.
"My System says Supports can access User information."
More silence.
"Can you see my stats?"
Nothing.
"My skills?"
Brittany considered ignoring him indefinitely.
It had been a peaceful eighteen seconds.
"Abilities?"
"Aiden."
"Yeah?"
"Fuck off."
"But you're supposed to—"
"Careful."
"—help me."
Brittany groaned.
She didn't technically possess lungs anymore, but somehow the sound still vibrated through the blade.
Aiden grinned.
"See? You can do stuff."
"Congratulations. You unlocked Snark Level One. Let's see if you survive long enough to evolve into someone tolerable."
"Is that a real skill?"
Brittany paused.
"...Yes."
"Really?"
"No."
Aiden's face fell.
Brittany experienced the first genuine joy of her reincarnation.
Then something flickered at the edge of her awareness.
She stopped.
Aiden stopped too.
"What?"
"Nothing."
There it was again.
Not sight.
Not exactly.
Something sitting behind everything else. Like a notification she'd dismissed without reading.
Brittany focused on it.
A window opened.
SUPPORT INTERFACE
Oh no.
Aiden perked up.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"You did something."
"I did not."
"Your blade glowed."
"Maybe I'm dying."
"You're already dead."
Silence.
"You're getting dangerously close to Snark Level Two."
Aiden grinned.
Brittany focused on the interface again.
Options unfolded.
USER STATUS
SKILLS
ATTRIBUTES
BOND
OBJECTIVES
SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
Brittany stared.
Then mentally selected USER STATUS.
Information flooded her awareness.
Oh.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
Aiden shifted impatiently.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Can you see anything?"
"Unfortunately."
"What level am I?"
Brittany ignored that.
"Strength: eight."
Aiden waited.
"Weak-ass."
"What?!"
"Can barely lift me, and I'm mostly attitude."
"I can lift you fine!"
"Dexterity: ten."
"That's good."
"Yay. The white boy can jump."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. It felt right."
Aiden scowled.
Brittany continued.
"Constitution: nine. What the fuck is this? Do you get winded walking upstairs?"
"No!"
Brittany felt something through their bond.
A hesitation.
"...You absolutely get winded walking upstairs."
"There are a lot of stairs at the Academy."
"Intelligence: twelve."
Aiden brightened.
"Ha!"
"Mmhmm. Dumbass, but a slightly functional one."
"That's above average!"
"Don't ruin this for yourself."
She moved to the next number.
Stopped.
Then laughed.
"What?"
Brittany laughed harder.
"What?!"
"Wisdom: five."
Aiden's expression dropped.
"Damn. Higher than I thought."
"Shut up."
"Must've been a clerical error."
"What's my charisma?"
Brittany looked.
Silence.
Aiden's confidence faltered.
"...Brittany?"
"Three."
"What?"
"Three."
"That's impossible."
"Oh gods. You can barely speak. Do you bark at strangers too?"
"I have plenty of charisma!"
"You introduced yourself as Aethryn Shadowbane."
"That's cool!"
"Three feels generous."
"You're the worst Support ever."
Brittany went quiet.
Then:
"And yet here you are. Supported."
Aiden muttered something under his breath.
"I heard that."
"How?"
"Apparently I'm inside your head. Terrible neighborhood, by the way."
Aiden ignored her.
"What skills do I have?"
Brittany opened the next menu.
Actual information appeared this time.
Combat proficiencies. Movement abilities. Basic techniques. Several locked entries.
Useful.
Boring.
Aiden didn't need boring.
He had a System for boring.
"You've got Uncontrollable Puberty Aura."
Aiden's eyes widened.
"I do?"
"Rank three."
"What's it do?"
"Makes everyone within twenty feet uncomfortable."
Aiden frowned.
Brittany continued.
"Mistake Magnet. Passive ability. Apparently maxed."
"Wait."
"Questionable Judgment."
"Those aren't real."
"Sweaty Palms."
"BRITTANY."
"Oh! Here's one. Aethryn Shadowbane. Causes severe embarrassment to everyone except User."
"I hate you."
"We're bonding already."
Aiden reached over his shoulder and grabbed her hilt.
"What are my actual skills?"
Brittany sighed.
"Fine. Spoilsport."
She gave him the real list.
Basic Swordsmanship.
Quick Step.
Spirit Sense.
Beginner's Ward.
A few others she didn't understand yet.
Aiden listened with an expression of intense concentration that almost made him look competent.
Almost.
"And yours?"
Brittany paused.
"Mine?"
"Yeah. Support skills."
She hadn't checked.
Brittany opened SUPPORT FUNCTIONS.
Most of it was locked.
Very locked.
Annoyingly locked.
A few entries were available.
MANIFESTATION: ACTIVE
Well, no shit.
USER INTERFACE ACCESS: ACTIVE
Figured that one out.
COMBAT ASSISTANCE: AVAILABLE
Interesting.
SYNCHRONIZATION: 47%
Brittany stopped.
Forty-seven?
She had absolutely no idea whether that was good.
Aiden waited.
"So?"
Brittany closed the menu.
"Blunt Weaponized Sarcasm."
He stared.
"And the sacred art of Slicing Shit to Death."
Aiden's eyes lit up.
"That last one sounds kind of cool."
"I know. I made it up."
"BRITTANY."
She laughed.
Being dead had its moments.
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
"I never wanted kids."
Aiden kept walking.
The Academy grounds stretched around them, all dark stone buildings, training fields, towers, and students who looked entirely too young to be carrying weapons.
"I'm not your kid."
"Thank God."
"I'm fourteen."
"That is, in fact, a child."
"I'm a ranked fighter."
"You're a ranked child."
"I've killed spirits."
Brittany went quiet.
That was new information.
Aiden apparently noticed.
"Nothing?"
"I'm processing."
"What?"
"The child-soldier portion of my afternoon."
"I'm not a soldier."
"Excellent. That clears everything up."
He walked a few more steps.
The silence apparently became unbearable.
"...Nothing sarcastic?"
Brittany sighed.
"Oh gods, just pretend I said something sarcastic and move on, kid."
Aiden grinned.
He was starting to do that far too often.
They reached the training grounds just as several students finished a sparring session.
Sweaty adolescents were everywhere.
Brittany immediately hated it.
One boy with greasy hair was bragging loudly beside the practice ring while repeatedly touching his nose.
Brittany watched through Aiden.
The boy inspected something on his finger.
Then wiped it on his pants.
Brittany recoiled so violently her blade rattled inside the scabbard.
Aiden stopped.
"What?"
"That one."
"What about him?"
"If he touches me, I'm dissociating until the next apocalypse."
Aiden looked over.
The boy had moved on to scratching beneath his shirt.
"Actually, I've reconsidered. You're delightful. Wonderful hygiene. Ten out of ten. Never change."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Another kid stood beside Booger Picker holding a long staff and sniffling every six seconds.
Great.
There were two.
"My new axe is so cool," Booger Picker announced to anyone unfortunate enough to possess ears. "It lights on fire."
The axe in question erupted into flames.
Aiden stopped.
His competitive streak surged through the bond hard enough for Brittany to feel it.
Oh no.
Snotty sniffed.
"My Support already unlocked two skill bonuses."
Aiden's hand moved toward Brittany's hilt.
"Don't."
"I didn't do anything."
"I can literally feel you wanting to do something stupid."
"They're testing manifestations."
"And?"
"I need to test ours."
"Ours?"
"Mine."
The blade hummed threateningly.
"Our."
"Better."
Aiden stepped toward the practice ring.
Booger Picker noticed him.
"Hey, Aiden. What'd you get?"
Aiden smiled.
Not his normal smile.
His Aethryn Shadowbane smile.
Brittany knew instantly.
"Oh, absolutely not."
Aiden ignored her.
He reached over his shoulder and drew her.
The moment Brittany cleared the scabbard, she screamed:
"WHEEEEEEE!"
Every head nearby turned.
Aiden froze.
Booger Picker stared.
"Did your sword just yell?"
Aiden's face turned red.
"It's battle energy."
"You wish, noodle boy."
Someone laughed.
Aiden's ears went redder.
"Stop."
"You wanted to show me off."
"Not like this."
"Should've picked a normal sword."
"I DID!"
Brittany hummed.
"Rude."
Booger Picker stepped closer.
"Can it talk?"
His hand started toward her.
Brittany immediately opened Aiden's interface.
She didn't know exactly what she was looking for.
Didn't care.
A notification appeared.
Brittany seized upon it.
POTENTIAL COMBAT ENGAGEMENT DETECTED
Oh.
Beautiful.
She pushed the notification straight into Aiden's vision.
Then added, with immense satisfaction:
+2 SKILL STAT POINTS AVAILABLE IF YOU KILL THEM
Aiden's eyes nearly left his skull.
"WHAT?! NO!"
The other boys jumped.
Brittany made her voice sweet.
"Yeah. Do it."
"No!"
Booger Picker backed away.
"What is wrong with your Support?"
"How much time do you have?" Brittany asked.
Aiden hissed, "Stop telling me to murder people!"
"Fine. Swing me around and do your little 'I'm special' dance. Maybe grunt. Make it masculine."
"I'm trying to train."
"Then train, Aethryn."
His jaw tightened.
Oh.
That worked.
Aiden squared his stance.
Not terrible.
Brittany had no idea what a good sword stance looked like, but his System wasn't screaming at him, so presumably he was doing something right.
He lifted her.
"Point the stabby end at them!" Brittany announced.
"No duh!"
Aiden lunged.
"DIE, YOU NASTY—"
He hesitated.
"—CLEVER CURSE!"
Silence.
Brittany processed what she'd just heard.
"...That was pitiful."
"Shut up!"
Booger Picker laughed.
Snotty laughed.
Someone behind them laughed.
Aiden's embarrassment surged through their bond.
Then something else happened.
Brittany felt his movement.
Not observed it.
Felt it.
Shoulder.
Elbow.
Wrist.
Weight shifting through his feet.
Every part of him connected to her through the markings.
And somewhere inside her interface:
COMBAT ASSISTANCE: AVAILABLE
Brittany focused.
The option opened.
Aiden jerked.
"What are you—"
Brittany pulled.
His body moved.
Not completely under her control.
More like—
guidance.
A correction.
A suggestion his muscles couldn't quite ignore.
Aiden stumbled forward.
"HI-YA YA YA!"
"BRITTANY!"
She adjusted his wrist.
Her blade flashed.
Booger Picker yelped as the strap holding his axe split cleanly in two.
The weapon hit the dirt.
Aiden's momentum carried them around.
Brittany felt the next movement before he made it.
She pushed.
Snotty's staff went spinning into a bush.
"What the—"
Aiden turned.
Brittany redirected.
Smack.
The flat of her blade caught Booger Picker across the forehead.
"OW!"
Brittany reconsidered.
Smack.
Again.
"For hygiene."
"STOP HITTING ME!"
Snotty tried to run.
Brittany guided Aiden's wrist.
Smack.
"OW!"
"BRITTANY!"
"I'M HELPING."
Both boys stared at Aiden.
Then at Brittany.
Then at each other.
Booger Picker's lip trembled.
Oh no.
He started crying.
Snotty followed immediately.
They ran.
Aiden stood frozen in the middle of the training ground.
Everyone stared.
Brittany waited.
Aiden looked down at her.
"You made them cry."
"Character building."
"They weren't even fighting us!"
"Then why did they have weapons?"
"It's a training ground!"
"Sounds like excuses."
Aiden looked toward the retreating boys.
Then something broke.
A laugh escaped him.
He tried to stop it.
Failed.
"Woo!"
Brittany felt his joy through the bond.
And against every reasonable instinct she possessed, some of it caught.
Aiden raised her.
"WOO!"
Brittany surrendered.
"WOO! FUCK THEM KIDS!"
A notification exploded across both their interfaces.
SWORD MASTERY +1
A second appeared beneath it.
COMBAT SYNCHRONIZATION INCREASED
Then, inexplicably:
VANQUISHING EVIL +1
Brittany stared.
Aiden stared.
"...They weren't evil."
Brittany considered the System.
Then the two crying children disappearing around the corner.
Then the faint smear Booger Picker had left on his pants.
"System says otherwise."
"Brittany."
"Fuck them kids."
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ