Johannes Volkner bid farewell to a good night's sleep. A knock, early in the morning, awoke him unceremoniously as he yelled out. "One minute!" Soon enough, he had dressed himself, and opened the door, expecting to see Suzuka waiting for him. Yet there were no horns, and rather a shock of red hair that made him briefly defensive, reaching for Beissende Hunde. Thankfully, he realized quickly that it was not Boudica, even as he'd futilely moved to fight against someone who would frankly be able to kill him in an instant. Aylin coughed lightly, before shoving him to one side and inviting herself in. She slipped down into his desk chair, spinning it to look at him.

  "I know me showing up is... Sudden, but I need some help. You took blood from me in the Distortion, so I feel like you sort of owe it to me, if that makes any sense? I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I really need the help. I felt... Useless, in the last Distortion. Powerless, you know?"

  Johannes nodded slightly. If nothing else, he certainly understood the sentiment, even if she had barged into his room like she owned the damn place. He took a seat on his bed, and motioned to her with one hand.

  "I can try to help, but there's no guarantee I can do too much. Did you have anything specific you wanted to focus on? That might help with making you a custom enhancement."

  Aylin raised her normal arm to her chin as she thought on it, taking a few seconds. "Well... If I had to say one thing, I'd say that while the Spirit inside me is both capable of high level magic, and powerful physical combat, I feel like I can't apply that physical fighting well. I don't have the skills needed to use my body at those speeds, and with that much power, if that makes any sense. Could you do something that would help me with that? I understand if this is a big ask."

  Johannes eyed her brass arm for a second, wondering if it was part of the Spirit or from some unrelated incident. Either way, he couldn't help but feel that Aylin was reminding him of Jessica somewhat, and that meant he was going to help regardless of any debts. He gestured to the desk as he got an idea of what could be done to help her.

  "If you could put your arms on the table. I can add a rune array to that prosthetic of yours, something to help you learn a bit quicker. It's not quite the same as making you smarter, but you can think of it like your body and your mind cooperating more as you develop muscle memory."

  She nodded, her face betraying just a hint of a smile as she tossed her arms onto the table. "You can use some of my blood if you need an easy way to write it on. It's not like you don't use it often enough as it is."

  Those words briefly stopped him as he was getting up, unsure how to respond. How was she so calm about something like that? Still, he brushed it off as just another one of the cruelties of the world. The mages at Heliopolis were just as cruel as those on the ground, or perhaps even more. He slipped Beissende Hunde from its sheath, handling it carefully with both hands as he lightly nicked her shoulder, trying not to draw too much blood. Soon enough, he had moved over to her other arm, and began writing with that blood in practiced, measured strokes.

  He constructed a quick and simple array, given its effect would be confined wholly to the arm and her own body. Dagaz, the rune of dawn and awakenings, alongside Nauthiz, the rune of restrictions and the requirements to overcome those restrictions, and Mannaz, the rune of humanity and the intelligence of mankind. It was an array he had used several times when trying to learn new skills himself, and while its power wasn't amazing, it was a clear difference between learning with or without the aid.

  After a few minutes of writing, he pulled back, wiping down Beissende Hunde's blade. "You're all done, Aylin. Was that all you wanted, or was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

  She took several seconds at that, looking up to him as he cleaned the sword, before ultimately shaking her head. "No, no, I'm good. Um, thanks for all this. Really. It's not often someone actually helps when I ask for it."

  Johannes flushed lightly at the praise, stepping back and nodding. It was... Nice, honestly, to be depended on. "If that's everything, could you please leave? It's not like I hate your company or anything, but I don't want rumors to start if you get spotted showing up at my room a lot, Aylin. Next time, can you just show up to my workshop instead?"

  She nodded politely, seemingly a bit more reserved after getting his help, and quickly excused herself through the door, giving him more time to get ready for his day.

  Once he was more properly ready to go about his day, he headed back to the workshops, ready to continue making more progress and hopefully getting enough capabilities that he could be confident in surviving long enough for Suzuka to take care of whatever enemies might come their way.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Unfortunately, just as he had laid the armor out on the table once more, the warning klaxons began to blare for the first time since his arrival to Heliopolis. The main lighting cut off and was quickly replaced with a deep, scarlet warning light that put him on edge as he drew Beissende Hunde, pressing up behind the blast door. If something could get through that blast door, his position inside the room wouldn't really matter to begin with. He would assuredly be dead regardless of that fact.

  For the next several minutes, he was alone with his thoughts, only occasionally greeted with speech from the intercom system informing him of what was going on. Daedalus's voice echoed, as opposed to the Director's own. "All personnel are to be advised, there was a Spirit summoning malfunction. A rogue Spirit is among the facility. Callers are to evacuate the hall between the summoning chambers and the engineering department, while all Spirits are advised to head to that area in order to apprehend and defeat the enemy."

  The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at that. The enemy was almost exactly on top of where he was at that time, and they were a Spirit to boot.

  Soon enough, he could hear the sounds of clashing metal, running, and several screaming voices. Some were panicked, some angered, and he swallowed his saliva as his hand held the control to the blast door. It was terrifying, and reckless, but he considered the merits of opening the door. Of at least knowing the face of the Spirit that might kill him. Soon, a massive explosion sounded out, and he decided to go for it, despite the fact that it would put him at more risk. He knew it was stupid, so utterly stupid, but it was better to die facing his killer.

  Yet, when he cracked the door open to peer out, he was frankly shocked by what he saw. Yoshinaka, a woman with long, brown hair, and Suzuka were all fighting with some thin, androgynous figure in a suit who had short, brown hair and lightly tanned skin. More bizarre than the figure's appearance, though, was their weapon of choice. A massive, golden cannon that Johannes could distinctly recognize from when they'd picked it up in the first Distortion. The entire hall had been damaged and scorched, and Suzuka seemed to be a bit charred, both her clothing and her body. Off to the side, Johannes could see Martin behind the mysterious enemy, trying to catch him with a barrage of spear thrusts. He couldn't help but notice Martin had several destroyed bags of flour slung over his shoulder...

  Among everyone present and fighting though, one person caught Johannes's eyes the most. Wilhelm was actually there, grabbing other Callers and pulling them out of the way with impossibly quick movements that made it seem as if he were launching himself through the air with every step. In fact, the way he moved looked more like a Spirit than a living person! Johannes could scarcely believe his eyes, or that the gap between them had seemingly only grown instead of beginning to shrink with all the time he'd been putting into his work. He could feel a little bit of himself break at the sight, but more importantly... Suzuka was hurt. He pointed Beissende Hunde's tip towards her through the cracked blast door, forming the rune of Berkano and beginning to heal her wounds, even if only slightly.

  Her eyes met his for a brief moment, and she nodded lightly, but didn't say anything, as the clash of blades and flames continued. He couldn't help but notice that the woman with the long, brown hair was wearing plated armor and wielding a flaming, yet still sheathed, sword. Perhaps that was the 'simulated' Joan D'Arc? His suspicion was solidified when he looked over and saw the Caller that Wilhelm had pulled away from the fight. His lightly tanned skin and black hair, alongside the thick, unkempt stubble, made it clear that he was Quinta, at least most likely. He was the only Caller matching that description that Johannes could firmly remember, and he seemed to be shouting orders at the woman with the flaming sword, who completely blew him off.

  The cannon roared, as a blast of what seemed to be bright light itself filled the hallway. Joan swung her sword down at that instant, and a wall of flames rose up to blockade the light, making the hall so bright that Johannes closed the blast door more if only to protect his eyes from what he was seeing. Yoshinaka burst through the flames shortly after, literally running through the wall and causing it to part in his wake as he slashed horizontally, only for his blade to be caught against the massive cannon wielded in the mystery Spirit's hands. Suzuka had slipped up the left side, slashing with one of her swords, only for the man to drop to the ground, avoiding yet another strike. How fast was this guy...?

  Thankfully, Johannes didn't have to worry about the answer to that question for much longer. The one to finish it was Martin, who dropped down with his spear and skewered the man into the flooring hard enough to crater the steel panels. He let out a long, deep, sigh as he pulled the spear out, and the man said some words that were covered up by the final sounds of conflict. Soon enough, Johannes had swung the door open, with the danger seemingly over, and stepped out to the wider hall, where Joan and Quinta were already leaving. He couldn't help but realize that Suzuka had changed her outfit at some point or another, wearing a conspicuously short skirt, a bright white shirt, and long socks that, even in their burnt state, drew his eye.

  He pulled his gaze up quickly to look her in the eye, and asked plainly. "Are you okay, Suzuka? I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help you more."

  She looked at him, and despite the fact she had just gotten out of battle, her face was plastered with quite possibly the brightest smile he'd seen from her yet. Her eyes were practically sparkling as she sheathed her sword.

  "Of course, Johan~!" She giggled lightly, seeming far, far too pleased with herself.

  Johannes couldn't help but sigh, as he turned to walk away from the scene. "Suzuka... Lets just get something to eat. I haven't had anything all morning."