Mecanimus
patreon
Changeling Part 61
🕑 Added 2024-09-23 15:12:25 +0000 UTC“So this is the pit.”
Nestra looked around with curiosity. The Palladian clan often mentioned this repeating portal world as a cakewalk assignment, one that was both lucrative and easy, considering their power. It was a very strong D-class one, and it had the peculiarity of being circular with the exit portal in the middle. The path started up, right under a cliff of jagged rocks under a sky of perpetual yellow clouds. It led down in a clockwise path, sometimes over barren rock, sometimes over patches of deep white sand and down to a central arena, also covered in sand. The place smelled vaguely of sulphur. It was also the second most intense mana concentration human Nestra had ever felt (after the regrettable hide-under-an-ant-corpse incident).
Mom was waiting for her near the entrance. Neat piles of bleeding carcasses littered the path, stacked two Nestras high. The creature looked like a mix between giant moles and antlions with an exoskeleton and very prominent front teeth. They were only valuable as feed since they apparently tasted rather terrible. The mana-infused sand was the portal’s treasure. It was stripped-mined every session, then used in fancy glass-making and luxury construction. Nestra frowned.
“Did you leave me any?”
“I told you we would go over the basics and we will go over the basics, my young daughter,” Mom replied with some annoyance.
Despite the ease of the portal, she was still wearing her mage robes.
“Not so young now…” Nestra grumbled.
“Young in the way of the portal worlds,” Mom insisted. “We will take it slow. Or are you going back on your promise to be careful?”
“Nope, and I would not have tried without you present,” Nestra shamelessly lied.
“Good, good. Now, to begin with, we will meditate.”
Nestra had a quick look down the sand arena where the tougher enemies and the guardian awaited. The mana concentration would be higher there. Killing an enemy would also load her core with mana which would make the process so much easier…
The landscape was replaced by a pair of very blue eyes crossed by electric arcs.
“I’m going! I’m going!” Nestra said, throwing her hands up in the air.
She sat her armored ass on a nearby rock and adopted a lotus position. With her eyes closed, she focused on her core and mana channels.
The outer pressure was pushing against her skin. Higher gleams could draw mana in but at her level, being in a saturated environment was enough. Slowly, she allowed the mana into her, then slowly drew it into her core to feed it. Since she had no practice with it, it felt like pushing dense smoke into a hole with a bad fan.
Her Aszhii self had no need for such zen nonsense. She killed, she absorbed, and then she moved on. Humans really had it rough. They had to consciously work at it. The horror!
“It seems to be working,” A voice said near her ear.
It was close enough to tickle.
“Ngah! Too close! You’re the one who told me to meditate properly!”
“Hmmm. You have the hang of it. You’ll need more practice before I can introduce advanced breathing routines, Nestra, so let’s switch to spellcasting. Our time together is precious.”
“Yes!”
Mom went to stand in the middle of the path. She put her hands on her hips. This brought back unfortunate memories of being caught raiding the cookie cache.
“What do you remember of structured magic?”
“You use the alphabet of symbols called ‘keys’ found in the ‘Grande Biblioteca’ portal world in Rome – Ow!”
A stone hand clanged against Nestra’s chest piece. She didn’t feel more than a light push but it was more a matter of principle.
“Not ‘you’, ‘we’. You will learn them again, and then we will proceed with the simple spell that will be the basis of your fighting style. Do you remember how to cast a spell?”
“Arrange the keys in my head and think very hard about the outcome?”
“Yes! Yes, it’s like… programming but also like music.”
Nestra remained impassive.
“I already told you this, didn’t I?” Mom asked.
“First thing you said when I turned six.”
“Well, to be fair, it was some time ago. Now, some clans or guilds favor large, complex spells and for large-scale raids and battles, it’s better. Same with people who use exotic mana types and prefer custom spells. We Palladians specialize in small squad, speed, control, and versatility so for us the faster, the cleaner, the better. Alright?”
“Short and sweet, got it.”
“You want a small catalog of versatile spells you can cast in your sleep, not giant ice pillars that smash down from the heavens two minutes after the battle has ended.”
“What about the, err, zero aura?”
Mom frowned a bit, her head turning to the side.
“Where did you hear that?”
“The examiner for my license. We had a spar and I accidentally used it on him.”
“Show me,” Mom demanded.
Nestra focused again. She grabbed her ice mana and pushed it outwards and against her skin. At first, nothing happened, but then the temperature dropped, and her breath fogged in the air even though she couldn’t feel the cold herself.
“Interesting. A bit too focused on the upper body but I suppose it’s to be expected,” her mom commented like she’d been dressing a salmon and not violating the laws of thermodynamics through strength of will.
“This is a skill, the raw, shaped use of mana preferred by strikers and tanks and the likes. The fact you managed it yourself is very encouraging. Zero Aura is a Polaris guild term, that’s why I was curious. It slows molecular motion around you. At higher potency, water particles will freeze in the air, creating rather deadly white fog. It will linger but by the same logic, it will stay behind so on a moving battlefield, it won’t be useful. Shockwaves and wind can disperse it as well.”
“Aw.”
“It remains a very powerful tool against slow and massive opponents,” Mom amended. “I am not trying to discourage you, I am merely reminding you of the limits of certain techniques so you know which one will work well and which one should be left for another day. Knowing when to use a technique is just as important as knowing how to use the technique. Perhaps even more.”
“So it can grow stronger?”
Mom chuckled.
“Of course, silly child. It is called the ‘Zero’ aura because the goal is to bring it as close as possible to the absolute zero, the full cessation of any motion. Final entropy. But maybe we’ll start with a basic armor spell. The ice armor spell is a staple of close-range mages and ice-aligned fighters. Do you remember why it’s good?”
“It has high flux during casting but low flux while holding which makes it efficient and resilient. It also freezes whatever hits it.”
“Very good. There is a third advantage but it’s more on the conceptual level and you might need some time before pulling it off. Contact with ice that you are actively channeling can slow and weaken most enemies. It’s useful for long fights.”
“I see.”
“The runes are ‘cover’, ‘self’, and ‘protect’. Do you remember them?”
“Absolutely not.”
The Grande Biblioteca symbols looked a bit like keys designed by a neurotic artist. Most of the time they were represented vertically with the handle on top, though their positions in enchantments depended on function. They had commonalities that made remembering them a little easier. For example: lava resembled stone, fire and heat, but stone and heat had little in common. The keys for actions, nouns, and adjectives have similarities in the ‘handles’. It could be worse but it was still an alien system and a massive pain in the ass to learn. What her mom didn’t know was that Nestra had already started to study this in Shinran’s secret training base. The base liked to build proper basics though, so Nestra had just learnt to recognize more complex patterns instead of practicing them herself. Nestra actually remembered the keys but she didn’t want to let her mom know.
“Like this.”
Frozen patterns appeared on the ground in front of Nestra. Mom’s control was impressive.
“Try it.”
Nestra did. After bringing forth ice mana, she formed the patterns in her mind which was easy considering they were written right in front of her. Magic formed a tiny cloud around her with ‘cover’, then with ‘self’, it drew closer to her body with the speed of a sullen kindergartner. At ‘protect’, the mana became incredibly sluggish as it crystallized to protect her. Nestra almost lost control of the spell when her armor guided its energies over it like, absorbing them in prepared spots. She heard creaks, and felt cool.
When Nestra opened her eyes, her armor was a dirty off white with a craggy appearance, except, it wasn’t her armor, but a protective layer above. Mom’s armor was blueish and pristine like a fairy tale dress while Nestra’s was pitted and jagged. There were even nubs that sharpened into short spikes. The spell remained at the back of her head, active and feeding off her.
“Good,” Mom said. “Low flux constructs like this one can be dropped and picked again if it hasn’t been too long. That means even if you get distracted and lose the spell, so long as its manifestation hasn’t melted or taken too much damage, you can reconnect with it. It will allow you to continuously repair it. Try it now.”
Nestra did as Mom asked. It was easy because she wasn’t fighting and the armor itself was intact. It almost wanted to reconnect. When Nestra reached for it, the spell jumped into her consciousness. She fed it more mana and the air around her grew white and hazy.
“That is enough,” Mom said. “You barely have enough reserves right now. Even a basic spell such as this one will tax you. We will spend the rest of the session meditating here.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to kill something together?”
“You’ll get your chance to kill monsters, larger raid daughter, but the creatures here are very dangerous for D-class. Let’s get you started with something less dangerous.”
Nestra frowned.
“Is Helena ‘smaller daughter’ then?”
“I used to call her scrawny but apparently it makes teenagers insecure.”
“That it does.”
“I haven’t been one for sixty years so my memory is a little hazy. Enough delays. On your butt, close your eyes, and drink that mana.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster with ice mana?”
“Shut up and meditate.”
***
Helena and Nestra reached the window where a tired low-level government employee waited. He was a short Asian man, quite overweight though his uniform was too large and his skin sallow, like he’d recently lost weight.
“Hello! We’re here to register a class-D guild,” Nestra said, taking the initiative.
“Welcome, and hello to you too. Have you done the online registration part?”
They had. Some of the more sensitive administrative tasks in Threshold required someone showing up in person. Such was the case for minor guilds because of the tax breaks they’d be getting. It was just too easy to cheat. The man briefly checked their ID before confirming their scope and other things. Really, it was just a formality.
“I am a bit unclear as to what you mean when in the portal world selection preferences where you said: ‘the worst’,” he asked.
The two sisters looked at each other.
“Just that. The purpose of the Little People League is to take on the jobs people don’t want to do because they’re risky and pay little, before the incidents start happening. So yeah, send us the bad ones,” Nestra summarized.
“We can find the good ones on our own time thanks to our family’s guild,” Helena added.
The man nodded before making a long note. He then took a longing look at an empty chocolate box on his desk before shaking his head and taking a big gulp of water instead.
“Right. So there are bad portals we do struggle to find people for. Do you prefer seaside or forest side?”
“Forest side,” Nestra replied.
“There’s also a few wandering monsters rumors, mostly dokkaebi from the damage but we get some plausible eye witness accounts. Would you be interested as well?”
“No wild goose chases,” Nestra said, but Helena had a different idea.
“Sure, send them if they look promising. Come on, Nes. You got a cool roadster! What’s the point if we can’t drive?”
Nestra considered the situation. She was here to help.
“Fair enough.”
“One last thing. Do you have a banner for the guild?”
“We do,” Helena said, beaming with pride.
She transferred a small image to the official. Nestra opened it as well.
It was a cartoonish and decidedly cute version of Sashimi showing her teeth, the ‘secret member’ of the League.
“Everything’s in order,” the employee eventually said. “Congratulations! Pending final approval, your first raid will be within three days. For the first raid and a random few afterward, a city user will accompany you to make sure there aren’t any mishaps. This is compulsory because you are both very junior. As a reminder, Helena Palladian may not raid without a guardian before she obtains her certification.”
“I’ll get it in a couple of days!”
The two exited the Beacon soon afterward. Helena was a buzz of enthusiasm. It looked like she’d even manage to interest a few of her school friends.
“I have this other ice user, and a blaster mage I work well with who said they might be into it. We can all have pizza afterward! Oh, oh, and a weekly cash prize for those who pulled the shittiest assignments. Hey, you think I can put this on my resume?”
“After we get a few missions under our belts? Absolutely.”
“Yes! Another selling point! I’m going to lure so many of the naive fuckers.”
Nestra just hoped there wouldn’t be too many sewer missions.
***
Nestra lounged on her Aszhii pillow pile, checking her messages. The Little People League’s registration had been accepted. Their first raid would be two days from now in an infamously low paying area of the city — just like they’d asked. Another message was from Special Affairs confirming her indefinite leave (without pay) while she underwent retraining in a private setting. Nestra could have gotten full benefits if she had joined the army for her service but that just meant spending weeks going over stuff she knew very well. Also, she didn’t like people. Or having to hide her true form for months. Or getting orders from weaker people than her. Or getting orders in general. And the food was notoriously shit.
It would be fine. The raids would pay for themselves. Even the bad ones. At one per day she could hope for eighteen grand a month! And those were just the human raids. After living so much of her life making baseline wages, gleam pay was a life changer. Insane difference if one didn’t mind the risks of dying.
Valerian had replied to her offer to join the League. He was actually ok with it, but he was also asking her to accompany her to an important family event for the next day.
“It’s very important,” he said. “Can you be at the arcology’s entrance at 1PM?”
“Sure,” Nestra replied. “I'll be there.”
She’d just have to move one of her training sessions but that sounded very important anyway. Making a note, she frowned when her motion sensor picked up movement.
She was at the security console a moment later. A hooded figure was approaching her house at a fast if awkward pace. He was carrying a small metal case that was suspicious as hell. Something about his fearful demeanor felt familiar.
“What the—”
Nestra’s door exploded inward. She raced towards her sword rack at a dead sprint. Someone appeared in front of her. Golden eyes. White, futuristic armor she recognized as US-made. She used momentum to move past but the light user was simply too fast for her. She was grabbed by the neck, slammed down on the rug. He pushed her arm into a lock, painfully high against her back. She hissed. Fucking light users were so damn fast that they countered her perfectly. And she recognized that one.
“Hurry,” Doctor Daniels told his assistant.
The fearful man rushed towards Nestra, opening the case which contained an array of testing equipment.
“We wanted to keep it above ground, demon girl, but you leave us no choice. The salvation of the human race trumps any other concern,” the white-armored asshole said.
“You’re fucking insane,” she hissed. “Diplomatic immunity won’t cover this one.”
His response was fast and full of fervor.
“You and all the impure mana-touched are so self-centered that you forget that humans are capable of something called sacrifice, altruism, enduring for the greater good. Even if we are caught before we can fly out, I will make sure the sample analysis is sent out before we are captured. You are the end of the line, the natural conclusion of all the so-called transformation powers and we will prove it, prove that you lot are the path to damnation. You are only the first of your kind.”
Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong there.
“Overestimating your abilities a bit,” Nestra huffed while the assistant tried to pull back the Skin which had formed under her lounger wear. He wasn’t having any success.
“Just draw from her hand,” Daniels barked.
From her position against the ground, she could see the needle of a very large syringe. She couldn’t use passe-muraille right now since she was being held. Momentum didn’t work if she wasn’t moving at all. If this hadn’t been her home she’d have been in trouble.
“You should be pleased that our research will show the path to salvation for us all, but I suppose notions like this are foreign to you, demon girl. I see you’re calm. You may think reinforcements will come in time which means you activated some sort of alarm. Maybe they will, but it will not help you. I am strong. Thresholders think they have the best raiders on the planet and perhaps you do, but you’re scattered, fragmented. You do not understand unity or a common purpose. Your city is a Babel of arrogance and selfishness. If I have to be left behind for Nichols to fly off, I will.”
The doctor had successfully drawn her blood and he was now grabbing some material.
“You sure love the sound of your own voice.”
“Is that all you have to say?” he replied with manic amusement.
Right. Nestra had what she wanted. Those two were lone wolves and they intended to leave the city by plane this very night. She wouldn’t get more than that.
“No, there is something more. Sea Wiz,” Nestra replied.
“Ah, I’m finally getting a proper read on her,” the assistant exclaimed.
“See what?” Daniels asked with a chuckle.
“See-wiz”
“DEFENSE SYSTEMS ACTIVE.”
“What the—”
The loudest fart imaginable would have deafened Nestra were it not for her sensory resistances. As it was, her wall of suspended rhododendrons, coat hanger, and the actual brick wall behind it were torn to shred while she did her best to remain very, very still. A shower of debris ranging from pulverized bricks to mortar filled the room all around her. It barely lasted for a second but it left the front of Nestra’s warehouse den shredded like cheese, with lights blinking weakly in the dusty air. Even with her monstrous resistance, she still felt like she’d been ran over by a pack of buffalos just from the air displacement.
“INTRUDERS NEUTRALIZED.”
“Ow. Thanks. Deactivate.”
“ACKNOWLEDGED.”
Nestra sat up. Her arms were still firmly held by gloved hands but the grappling positions was much less effective now that they were no longer attached to a torso. She brushed herself, then looked around. The naval cannon had shed its tarp which hadn’t survived the blast. Its muzzle shone red. It was also, Nestra thought, the most glorious piece of fucking gear she’d ever witnessed.
“You beautiful bastard you,” she whispered adoringly in Aszhii.
As for the intruders, the diagnosis was easy.
“Chunky salsa. Ew.”
It was going to cost her a fucking fortune to get them off her rug. Shit, the naval cannon at point blank range was capable of taking down a B-class gleam! A good reminder never to underestimate dozens of 20mm tungsten rounds traveling at above one kilometer per second.
Then she realized she’d just pasted two gleams on a diplomatic passport.
“Ugh, this is going to be such a pain.”
With a last sigh of annoyance, she grabbed her secured phone and dialed a number. To her surprise, the call was picked up immediately.
“Lindstrom speaking. This better be urgent.”
“The two American assholes who wanted samples of me, remember? They smashed through my front door to get them.”
“Dammit, I’m on my way. They’re gonna regret it!”
“Ah, that is to say, my home defense system disposed of them.”
There was a very, very long silence, which was even more telling because A-class gleams could think really fast.
“Excuse me?”
“They’re dead.”
“Dead, dead? Even the B-rank one? Are you sure? They can withstand a lot of punishment.”
“You’ll need a spatula to scrape him off the floor.”
Nestra didn’t understand what Rangarok said next but she decided that Swedish was such a beautiful language.
***
“We’re going to need to take the naval gun away,” Ragnhild said in a vaguely annoyed voice.
The technicians worked quietly. They’d been very loud and unprofessional about the crime scene first until Aszhii Nestra had hissed at one from under her mask. A fucking loser was getting close to her kitchen which was spotless, and therefore didn’t need to be messed with. Same for her weapons rack and her bed.
On the diplomatic level, the situation was so complex that Shinran had shown up. Nestra wasn’t in trouble. There was a recording of her front door smashed by a white-armored blur and said white armor on the corpse of dearly departed Doctor Daniels. There was a recording of the hooded form of his assistant getting in with a case, and the body of said assistant inside, with the case open. Though damaged, many measuring instruments were instantly recognizable. The fact they’d wanted samples and been refused was fully recorded in Threshold’s systems with mails they’d sent themselves. The final touch was that Daniels and his goon were not alive to present their version of the event. If anything, the rest of the American diplomats in Threshold were in hot water. Oh, they wouldn’t be expelled or anything, but Threshold would make its annoyance be known. Nestra’s status as victim was pure as snow which wouldn’t help with the CIWS situation.
“What do you mean, take it away?” Nestra asked, scandalized.
The techs froze before picking up the pace. Shinran held his peace. He probably didn’t want to interfere with Ragnarok while she was pretending to dispense justice, the tyrannical wench.
“This is a ship weapon, Crescent, albeit an antique one. Why do you even have this here?”
“Home protection.”
“That is not a home protection system!” Ragnarok replied, her voice rising.
“It protected my house and therefore it’s a house protection system!”
“The bullets blew through three warehouses, Crescent. Someone could have gotten hurt!”
“I would have gotten hurt without it. No one ever visits those warehouses. Look, anything that can disable me can’t be brought down with tasers so obviously I’d need something with a bit of an oomph, no?”
“Crescent, I don’t know how you got this thing to begin with—”
“Perfectly legally,” Nestra insisted.
“But this is military grade equipment that shouldn’t be in the hands of an individual!”
“By that logic you’re an individual! I’m a C-class gleam with enemies, and they tried to harvest my fucking blood, dammit! That gun is the only thing that protected me!”
Ragnarok took a deep, calming breath.
“You can’t keep something that blasts holes through an entire city block and that’s final.”
Nestra was about to explode, but she grew cold instead. Crossing her arms, she replied as calmly as she could.
“Very well.”
“You’re going to replace it with something even worse, are you not?”
“My life is at risk. I will protect myself, one way or another.”
“How about moving to a government-protected facility?”
“You can kiss my gray ass.”
Ragnarok’s eyes narrowed. The entire staff of techs froze where they were.
“Crescent, you’re out of line.”
“That is to say I kindly decline your ‘generous’ offer. I’m perfectly fine where I am with the level of protection I currently have, and I don’t need any help. I just need you to finish and leave so I can start with the repairs.”
Ragnarok glared, but Nestra had righteous anger on her side. It was at that moment that Shinran took a step forward.
“Perhaps Crescent can keep it if she reinforces her walls with enchantments and promises to use ammunition that does not punch through several meters of concrete…”
“I can do that,” Nestra agreed with a nod.
“There. And she is right, she does need to protect herself, but more importantly, she needs to be able to protect her identity.”
The two A-class shared a glance. Ragnarok wanted Nestra hidden because she was her scalpel, and possibly the only person who could one day equal Shinran in pure bullshit power. Shinran wanted her hidden because she was an Aszhii whose big brother could raze the city to the ground. Either way, Nestra had what she wanted. She retired to the pillow pile while the techs packed up. She sent a few messages but her first call was to Gorge.
“Hey,” she said as a way of greeting.
“What’s up? You almost always message.”
“Some twats crashed my place. Do you know someone who can do brick wall repair?”
“How bad is it?”
“The naval cannon fired. Front wall is Swiss cheese.”
Gorge whistled.
“Yeah I know a guy. Gotta take a week though, and twenty thousand creds give or take?”
“Can they reinforce it with mana?”
Gorge sighed. It wasn’t a good sign.
“You’re gonna need some Touhei contractors and it’s gonna cost you a hundred thousand for the basic package.”
“Fuck it. I’ll call them. I’m not moving. This is my den, hssssss.”
This was going to put her in debt. Nothing too bad but she’d been running on low reserves to feed the Skin. It didn’t really make sense for her to invest when she was always one blunder away from having to leave the city. Or indeed, mankind.
“One last thing. I need a shipment of alternative ammo for the cannon. High-explosive incendiary.”
“Nestra, are you getting door-to-door missionary kaiju?”
“They told me I needed something that doesn’t go through too many walls so that’s what I’m getting.”
“Yeah because the walls will be blown to pieces, and also, on fire?”
“My word is my bond. I still have the license anyway. Let’s say, five hundred rounds?”
“You are insane. Seven creds a round. I’m giving you a discount because of the volume, so thirty-two hundred total.”
“Much appreciated. See you later.”
Her next call was to Stibbs. Her explanation was direct and to the point so she could indulge in gloating before the inevitable return call from a certain message.
“And they thought they could just barge in and steal my vital fluids for their nefarious research, but little did they know, I was prepared! People always underestimate Clytemnestra Palladian, and then I either send them to prison or I have to power wash them off my curtains!”
“You don’t have curtains.”
“That’s a figure of speech, Stibbs. Bear with me! Anyway, one more foe to bite the dust thanks to my cunning and wondrous foresight. Oh, shit, she’s calling.”
“I was about to say, I’m surprised you’re still at your home.”
“Won’t last. Ugh.”
Nestra stood up to grab her luggage as she picked up on her visor.
“Clytemnestra Palladian,” a sweet voice said.
“Hi mom.”
“What do you mean by burglars? And why are they dead?”
“Well…”
“Less than a week after a train terrorist attack and you’re under assault in your own home? What is wrong with this city! I have sent the car. You will pack, and you will return IMMEDIATELY—”
“Yeah yeah…”
Comments
lenkite
Umm..all those techs know about her hidden identity since everyone was calling her Crescent...and her residential address would say Nestra lives here.
SunderGoldmane
It’s probably stuck in her carpet somewhere
SunderGoldmane
But the mom doesn’t
A Materen
Now he's lots of parts of an organization XD
Smaug
I would really really really, not be comfortable with a cannon that can turn me into tomato sauce before I can react being autonomously controlled by a computer. These things have backdoors, they can be hacked and shiet! Gidung could just send some tiny stealth drone and I don't think even Sereth could bail you out fast enough.
gray matter
Sareth wouldn’t let it get anywhere that’s his stated job. While I love the naval gun solution I’m surprised this wasn’t a Sareth solution. The enemy was B rank and wanted to use technology to source her blood. He already intervened on B ranks who found her blood
gray matter
Yes, which was dumb, if Crescent was attacked, why would she inform her mother? I mean unless you are planning on Sareth pretending to be Crescent at the same time Nestra is seen, her cover is entirely blown here. Even then her identity is known by the Americans unless you’re going to try and convince me they sent nothing back about Crescent being Nestra to their organization which isn’t believable. That’s the only out I see. Otherwise the part about her messaging her mother needs to be deleted at the very least. There’s a lot of identity shenanigans I think got mixed up in this chapter. For example her casually chatting on the phone with Stibs who’s referring to her as Nestra when it seems she was being Crescent. Same with what’s his face who wouldn’t make that mistake because she would’ve called him with the Crescent phone
Elayda
Chekhov’s Naval Point Defence Cannon
crownfall
shinran knows she is an azshii + ragnarok called her both crescent and nestra in this scene
pipMcDohl
Rangarok
NoReTr3aT
Oh shit, you're right.
NoReTr3aT
Because they raid for the little people that get fucked if the shitty portals aren't raided.
Christoph Seidl
I can't put my finger on why but I do love this entire story so far. It's really hard for me to wait for the release of the next chapter, I am checking almost every day "just in case" one is released earlier.
AgentFransis
Fucking around and finding out, Naval gun edition.
StarWolf
Nestra and Helen’s guild name is little people? So I thought they were being literal.
Clifton
Why would it be short?
Clifton
Definitely it'll be an arc. He's part of an organisation, after all. Well, was.
Daemion
I wonder, are the techs, Shinran and Ragnarok still in Crescent's place when she makes her phone calls? Because as gleams they could totally hear the other side of her conversation, too... and that means Shinran would then know that Crescent is Nestra. I mean, if he hadn't figured it out yet. Her mother is sending a car. Which means when it arrives someone is going make the Palladian connection. Also, what is Nestra going to tell her family? She was attacked because she can transform but her family knows that she can't. And this is going to be a high profile scandal, not something she can hide forever.
RageBone
Crescent can very well be recorded. It takes Nestra active thought but it is an important part of her cover as well, because if she is known as the magically unrecordable one, all those weird glitch incidents on her adventures fall back onto her.
Sgt. Tibs
Ragnorak was the one who tricked her into meeting them in the first place and now she tried to take the only thing that saved her smh. Another reason to be on team Shinran, he saved her gun.
StarWolf
Just to make sure I am tracking. 1.78 is above average height. It’s not short. Or in Nestra’s universe, with magic affecting people, 1.78 is now short? For American that is 5’8, definitely above average height for females.
Enif
Lol I guess not. I was thinking of the "Hot-shot" scene when she had to say Sea-wiz twice.
Mecanimus
Sorry should be corrected now.
Mecanimus
I... did a Dredd reference? lmao
Mecanimus
Is typo sorry. It's my bad.
Mecanimus
Nestra's around 1.78. Helena is still growing a bit and it looks like she's be taller.
Mecanimus
Yes they were destroyed under Shinran's authority.
Mecanimus
It's need destroyed yes. They brought the techs to protect her.
Mecanimus
Nestra sent her mom a message.
Adam Davies
Oh wow, i was ready for that asshole to be a whole arc, but this is waaaaaaaay more satisfying. Thanks :)
Terra Medlock
Just as the forefathers intended
Federico
The "jig" can continue. What can be discovered is: 1) Nestra and Crescent live together, so from roommates to a romantic relationship 2) Nestra and Crescent, until now, haven't ever be seen together. For this both aren't known to be party animals or have many social interactions outside their job. 3) Crescent isn't seen around. Remember that Crescent can't be recorded and it's likely discovered if someone cares by simply doing/searching a video. Some theories that can be made from someone that don't have the full story: 1) users without cores can transform. Unlikely because only now she can transform, there aren't any connection with her family, she didn't have any external manifestations such as inhuman reflexes. 2) she is a super government assasin/agent/operative. Here is a timeline: born without a core, but with everything else -> schooling as a top tier user -> years in one of the top police forces, as a cqc specialist -> wounded in action -> first operation (?) -> dismanted her unit -> some weeks pass, likely training -> first test, fighting the cyborg gangsters -> surviving the breach -> Crescent start to exist as a lap dog of Ragnarock -> the corruption case -> a near tpk -> sect mission -> secret mission in china -> operation in switzerland and the train attack -> americans that try to kill her. Obviously the naval cannon is a cover up, since a light user would be too quick to be targeted with such a weapon
Aifhwinx
oh, they are definitely toxic, nobody who'd push someone they supposedly care about to follow through with an engagement from love-bombing is anything but. and the functional disownment for defiance is just the shit icing on the cake there. the thing with choosing terms is I believe a neurological quirk I have, I probably didn't need to go into it because yeah most people get it, but it's just a little itch about differentiating reasonable assumptions and known facts, and word choice which keeps nipping at me. daniels group I'm like 95% sure is religious from how they talked, and 100% on them being fundamentalists from their focus and his little rant this chapter about 'purity'. the grandparents I'm 100% on them being shitty-flavoured religious, and like 90% on them being a flavour of fundamentalists
Aifhwinx
truly devious, nestra is cursed to be targeted no matter her identity :P
AntiClimax she her
Her grandparents were extremely religious, high-control, and practiced shunning. While you are correct that at this point it is technically incorrect to call them fundamentalists, since that technically refers only to groups that 'go back to the fundamentals', most people (even me, a former fundamentalist) just use the term to refer to shitty-brand religious that care more about their religious rules than they do about other people (including their family). There's enough overlap, that I think it's a fair use of the word, even if another descriptor would be more technically correct. I agree that we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that her grandparents are part of the same religious group (who I don't have enough evidence to know if they are fundamentalists or just supremacists or dominionists or what). But it's pretty obvious that whatever their particular beliefs, they have the same toxic flavor as the US religious far right.
AntiClimax she her
By that metric she was also targeted by Sereth for being Aszhii! :0
Aifhwinx
it's already been fixed, may need to refresh page, and the email will still show the typo, but it was fixed
Aifhwinx
yes, and a reasonable leap is still not confirmation. making guesses and predictions is fun, and as i mentioned, i think it's likely both from in narrative clues and meta-narrative clues. but for now saying they are religious fundamentalists is incorrect, all we have is that her grandparents are shitty-brand religious more concerned with image than family. which sadly still maps to a large percentage of non religious-fundamentalists. I'm expecting from a meta-perspective for it to turn out her grandparents either are part of the same group as Dr. Daniels was, or were part of a precursor group if they are dead, but I'm not about to say they definitely are yet. given recent revelations and story events i'd even bet on us having confirmation in short order. TLDR: I just don't like conflating 'X is likely' and 'X is true'
Aifhwinx
the name drop at least looks to be a typo, it's already been changed to crescent in the text, and otherwise yeah, the home is the place that most blends her identities, but IIRC it's like on-the-books as crescents, it's an issue because like... her mom knows where it is and has it tied to nestra, and if she mentions the address to someone who knows crescent's address the jig is up
Aifhwinx
in a sense Shinran targeted her for being aszhii, just not with intent to murder :P
Mantarok1205
Jolly good!
Ecthe
Actually the zealots only knew Crescent. They had no idea that she was Nestra.
Tjolbin
“This is a ship weapon, Nestra, albeit an antique one. Why do you even have this here?” Ragnarok calls her "Nestra" in public, with multiple people presumably paying attention to the conversation. Maybe its intentional, but it doesnt seem that way.
Deepal
The baddies were taken care of nicely, love the action, even the Allfather got wasted off screen last chapter, lol. I think this particular cult will come after her again.
AntiClimax she her
I don't think they're planning on raiding with Sashimi, at least when other people are involved. It's been mentioned that Sashimi may not appear when Nestra's in her mask, and it's also been mentioned that Sashimi doesn't seem to show up until she's bleeding. Of course, we won't really know until she's been regularly raiding in her mask.
RonGAR
Im sure there is. And thanks to your point, they would overlook not finding it. So it might as well go to Nestra.
AntiClimax she her
I don't think she needs to worry about the blood too much given Ragnarok *and* Shrinran are involved in the investigation and it's in both their interest to protect her identity.
AntiClimax she her
No. At least because Shinran supposedly doesn't know she's Clytemnestra Palladian, and Ragnarok supposedly doesn't know she's Ashzii. Also the look they shared implied that they didn't, at least until that moment.
Niko
Do ragnarok and shiran know that each other know nestra’s real identity?
AntiClimax she her
It's hilarious how spot on Gorge's quip was. Door-to-door missionary Kaiju? As B class, he may as well have been a Kaiju, and he was absolutely a missionary. Also, are there any of her identities that she hasn't been targeted for? Cop, Palladian, Demon? I suppose she hasn't been targeted specifically for being Ashzii yet.
SerIcouldntcareless
I dont know why, but your books are amazing !!!
gray matter
It became her azhii Den and was bought using off the grid funds, I’m pretty sure she only uses it as Crescent. She didn’t go there after Shinoda burnt down her apartment because that was Crescents place and she was being watched I believe. The only thing that should link Nestra to that place is the naval gun. Either way, if it’s Nestra’s place she would never enter or exit it as Crescent and the Americans wouldn’t have found here there if they were looking for Crescent. And if Crescents place and Crescent was attacked she shouldn’t let her mom know because Crescent has nothing to do with Nestra
AntiClimax she her
She hissed at the techs. Pretty sure she was both attacked and present for the investigation as Crescent.
gray matter
No she is hissing and using Azhii moves, she was attacked as Crescent.
AntiClimax she her
Is there a core left to take?
Daemion
He's standing in Nestra's home, Ragnarok used her name and I'm fairly sure Nestra's not going to meet her mother as Crescent, so she most likely changed back to her human self. If he still doesn't have a clue, then he's beyond help.
michael pigott
They don't just have, "religious" parents. They have "total disownment because the mom backed out of a "traditional" marriage with an assumed total abandonment of ambition to be a housewife" parents. They're not confirmed to be this flavor of fundamentalist but its not a huge leap
Owen Taylor
I thought she was in her human form. I thought the slip was calling her Crescent, not the other way around.
Owen Taylor
I think she was attacked as Nestra. What isn't explained is how the Americans knew that Crescent is Nestra. Both of Shinran and Ragnarok know she is Crescent. Nestra texted her mom herself to tell her, but presumably doesn't tell her why she was attacked, which is supported by Nestra's mom linking it to the train attack.
DrNutella
Ok it realy needs a line about the bloodsample...why isn't she paying attention to it? Did she get it? Destroy it? She knows anyone gets that blood her life on earth is over, why did she allow them to take it? It sounds like she wanted information but that can't be worth everythig she holds dear...
RonGAR
The Core... The B Core. Did she take it????
Aifhwinx
Rongar, yeah it was but it looks like it's already been fixed originally it was “This is a ship weapon, Nestra, albeit an antique one. Why do you even have this here?", which as of this post has been fixed to say crescent, supposedly there were some other mistakes in there but mecanimus is on the ball with it
87894354
You, sir, deserve an internet.
Aifhwinx
we learned her mum and aunt have religious family, religious =/= fundamentalist, so we don't have confirmation that they were fundamentalists. there is plenty of room for them to be such, and from a meta-perspective, it might even be likely since it would slot together neatly. I'm also not sure we have actual confirmation that the zealots here are religious fundamentals, just strong evidence for it so far. it is kind of funny that Nestra keeps getting into fights with fundamentalists though, first the sword kings and now these idiots. I'm halfway expecting her to stumble into another soon
RonGAR
Did Ragnorak really call her Nestra in front of Shinran and the techs??? I'll have to go back and see. Good eye!
Aifhwinx
ragnarok knows that the two identities are the same, but not about the Aszhii, shinran knows about the Aszhii but not that nestra == crescent
RonGAR
I knewwww those zealots were a problem. Didn't I say so two chapters ago when I thought it was them on the train??? Best believe that B'class douche made a bunch of calls about what he 'suspects' Nestra to be, and what to do if he doesn't return, which means. They'll be back. SMGDH. Church and the Good Lord are not the problem. It's just the lunatics turned fanatics in them that are! Still... all that aside. I didn't think we would EVER see those guns used, but Gyyaattt Damn were they effective. 😎🍻 -------- I'm surprised Nestra didn't remind Ragnarok that she was the one that didn't screen these fanatics better, and just 'Force fed Nestra' to them to 'appease' The Americans. I would've been like "This is on YOU!" It wouldn't help, but I bet it would make her feel better to say it. LOL 😉 -------- Hope she still goes to that Garden party with Valerian. He is crushing hard and maybe its time our girl stretches her muscles or gets them stretched 🤭 --------- Nice family bonding moment with mom and Helena. And Kudo's to Shashimi for making the flag! She'll be proud. But, don't know how Helena and Nestra are planning on hunting with Helena's school mates with Shishimi there. I guessing 'seperate' teams once they have enough numbers, and hire one or two C class vets as backup and to chaperone to keep things running smoothly. I know Nestra knows a few C-class vets looking for work from her jobs with Ragnarok. --------- Thanks for the chapter. Till next week.
Daemion
Let's look at the facts. The warehouse was bought/rented under Nestra's name back when she was doing illegal raids as part of Seth's training, Crescent didn't exist yet at that time. Correct me if I'm wrong please. Despite the protection given to masked gleams, the two zealots somehow found her home. Outside of an encrypted database there should be no record that Crescent is Nestra. Easiest explanation: They followed her because she wasn't careful enough. That would explain why Seth didn't intervene, this was the consequence of her own actions. Or maybe he knew she was safe and would have simply stolen the blood sample later. Both Shinran and Ragnarok know that Crescent is Nestra, correct? Shinran knows about Seth, too. Both are present at the scene, which makes the whole thing a really big deal. I guess Nestra texted her mom, she didn't find out on her own. And since the warehouse is Nestra's official address, she knew where to send the car. This is all problematic: The secret of Crescent is out in the open now, it won't take long until people know that it's Nestra in disguise. Which will raise uncomfortable questions, like "How did you become a C-rank raider without having a core?", which will in turn reveal her other secret.
matt
Nestra went full Burt. Awesome.
Clifton
We recently learnt that her mum and aunt had fundamentalist family who may or may not have survived. There is real potential for knotty and complicated situations with her identities overlapping in the future.
william wallace
There is a sick part of me that thinks Nestra should scoop up a bit of the ‘leftovers’ and put it in a jar and send it to the Americans. Maybe with a nice note saying ‘I was thinking of you, and thought you’d like some jam, I made it myself’
AntiClimax she her
My thought is less that they'll be main antagonists (though I'm sure they'll continue to be out to get her and may indeed be a main antagonist), but that their snooping will cause Nestra's identity to become known before she's ready. I'm a little worried that this incident will cause that given how entangled her identities are with her home. I'm not sure whose name it's under, but much of it is definitely being paid for by Crescent. And her Mom is apparently picking her up there, and Crescent was attacked there. Not sure how she's getting out of this one.
Oblique
Uh, Im not 100% sure if the building is under nestra or crescent actually.
Oblique
'Inevitable return call from a certain message' she let her mother know herself. I think probably because her two identities are very poorly separated qt this point. Nestra lives in that building officially. There was an incident. The mom would probably find out anyway.
Simon Hoerder
My mental calendar has it arrive sometime between going to bed on Tuesday evening and waking up on Wednesday morning. But I was looking through my mail archive of Patreon notifications and it seems to have fluctuated a bit during the last couple of weeks. Hence why I phrased my comment a bit vague. (I was too lazy to check back any further.)
gray matter
I don’t think Nestra is linked to that flat it was paid for with Crescents money and linked to her. She is actively being Crescent here. If it was Nestras flat she would’ve changed back, but then also why would the Americans be there they weren’t looking for Nestra. If that flat is Nestra’s and Crescent is there and was attacked by the Americans and her mom knows then her entire identity is blown in this chapter and I don’t think that was the intention. I think some of the identity things in this chapter need to be reworked. I did love the zealots getting massacred
Marsharbour
Crescent was attacked, in nestra’s flat.
steamrick
The nominal time is late tuesday evening (UTC-0). That's wednesday early morning in Hong Kong, I think?
Jèššé Höwârd
Hahahahhaha I used to work with the CIWS system and that was an amazingly fun surprise to see it.
Cormac
Should it really be Crescent? I got the impression it was a slip by the character, not the author.
gray matter
How does her mom know she was attacked? Crescent was attacked not Nestra. What am I missing? She is actively dealing with Ragnarok and Shinran as Crescent and her family is sending a car?
Cormac
This is a great copypasta.
steamrick
That's going to be the real question because the place should have her civilian name on the deed.
steamrick
Might have been deliberate by the author as a slipup by Ragnarok. I mean - sure the techs overheard, but it's not like Nestra isn't on the paperwork for the building, so it's becoming more and more of an open secret anyways.
Aifhwinx
somehow I doubt this will be the last we see of the zealots, not those two again mind, but if that supremacism is the norm amongst their group nestra will probably be getting harassed by them for a while. wonder if instead of Nestra's family we'll be dealing with them as some of the antagonists against her Aszhii self when it eventually comes out. and as others pointed out potential typo having Ragnarok call her Nestra in front of Shinran and the techs overall, enjoyable chapter, the guild founding got slightly overshadowed by Chekhov's naval cannon, but I'm excited to see how that goes, Nestra continues to contribute to the public good via violence
ItWasIDIO!!
Very American I believe they would approve if they weren't supremacist zealots
Doctor Zero
They should call themselves The Worst Guild. Pays the worst, takes the worst jobs, and have the worst interpersonal skills.
Lucy Severine
They thought she was crazy for using a Naval Cannon Broadside as home defence. They were wrong! AHAHAHA!
Adurna
I love the bragagrt instantly reined in by "Yes, mom."
Louisthau
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT
Daemion
I hope Shinran makes sure that Nestra's blood sample gets disposed of. Wouldn't want to let that fall into the wrong hands.
c c
Simply delightful!
Simon Hoerder
At least it's not a big cliff-hanger. And I'm gonna join the chorus of naval gun lovers. :-D
Simon Hoerder
Thanks for the chapter. But I thought Nestra comes mid-weekish? Is the schedule changing or do we have to wait extra long for the next one?
TheLunaticCo
I hope she destroyed the samples and whatever tech was being used to analyse them. Hopefully it wasn't being fed to an off-site backup.
StarWolf
UGH! We have to wait another week for a chapter!? How many chapters can you write if we go to 20 a month? Or 20 a week? I mean you don't need sleep right? :D Either that or I need to stop reading for a few months and then have 8-12 chapters to read. Serious question: How tall are Helen and Nestra's Human form?
Young Youghurt
Own a naval gun for home defense, since that's what the founding fathers intended. Two ruffians break into my house. "What the me?" As I grab my shiny armour and claws. Draw my window maker on the second man, miss him entirely because it's smoothbore and nails the neighbor's dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grapeshot, "Tally ho lads" the grapeshot shreds the two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel evaporate two next blocks. They puree waiting on the police to arrive since their bodies changed from solid to mushy state. Just as the founding fathers intended.
WickedlyDesigned
Shinran calling Nestra by her name is either a typo or a revelation. And I am pretty darn interested in how the Americans figured out her address, given the protections awarded to masked gleams.
Enif
Yeah!!! Checkovs CIWS finally gets it's day! So excited we got to see that. Also nice DREDD reference.
Ricky Kukowski
“This is a ship weapon, Nestra, albeit an antique one. Why do you even have this here?” should be Crescent. it happens again a bit later
Ekko
I love the Naval Gun! I knew that one day it was gonna be useful!
jarthur93
thank you for the chapter
Unwillingmainer
Fun to see her forced to learn the human way all while being much stronger as a demon. At least her mom is strong enough to beat it into her thick head. Speaking of her mom beating things into her head, is she ever going to be aloud to live alone at this rate? Fire bombs, attempted assassinations, and now nonconsensual medical procedures means mommy dearest isn't letting her out of her sight for a while. Nestra does know how to make interesting enemies.
Bunny Waffles
Mmm, chunky salsa~. Really though, everyone should invest in surplus high ordinance weaponry for home defense! Intruders can't complain if they are reduced to a nice manageable consistency!
WarStrider72
Early chapter again!
WarStrider72
Woot, thanks for the chapter boss
