-------
Returning to her body this time was like slipping into a comfortable set of clothes. Little things that she hadn’t even noticed bothering her were suddenly gone. Things that hadn’t quite fit right suddenly were perfect again. She lifted her hand, and magic flowed through her freely. It formed into a needlessly complicated glowing glyph that didn’t actually do anything except confer a slight blessing to the building. But casting that spell would’ve been hellishly complicated to almost anyone.
The power for the spell had come from her Zanpakutō, something that hadn’t disappeared when the System had been separated from her. The sword spirit was part of her soul after all. Just because the System had re-formed the connection, that didn’t mean it depended on the System to exist. She hadn’t regained her old mana pool, so that was something she’d have to work towards, if she felt it necessary, as her Zanpakutō filled that void already. Although, she’d regained some of the mana already while under the effect of the System. Just because the System was gone, that didn’t mean all her efforts were, and her latest Class had used mana.
She closed her fist with force, the small but sudden movement sending a small shockwave around her. It seemed her old strength had returned. Not the System enhanced but also System limited Strength, but actual power that came from her body, training, and creation. She made another test, bending backwards until her palms were on the floor, before lifting her legs straight into the air, over her, and on the ground on the other side again. A movement performed slowly, requiring quite a bit of flexibility and control, made effortlessly. It seemed her body was fine.
A single hum and a flare of her psionic might saw a perfect Witchblade appear in her hand. Something of such high quality that she would’ve never been able to make it before. She allowed her hand to slide along the flat of the blade, with Aeldari glyphs infused with magic appearing along the blade. Just because the weapon was made to be used by a psyker, that didn’t mean it couldn’t be enchanted with magic. Best of both worlds and all that. She knew the weapon she’d just created in a few moments was something that would be considered a priceless relic by almost anyone else in this universe. The benefits of extensive knowledge and experience unmatched by anyone.
The weapon disappeared with a snap of her fingers, finding a new home in the same part of her soul where her Zanpakutō-spirit resided, available to be called at any time. The two would merge over time. As would any other weapons she created and sent there.
At the same time, her telekinetic powers grabbed the dust in the corners of the room and moved it all to form a solid orb that looked heavy and smooth enough to be confused for marble. Another thought had the dust disintegrated by a golden flame. It seemed her Paladin abilities were still there as well. They weren’t her core abilities, but as she’d suspected, the System’s removal had done nothing to the abilities either. They came from Mother and her own conviction, not the System.
Testing another ability, she created a mass effect field around a small vase, causing it to float in the air weightlessly. Ironic that her biotic abilities would also return when she hadn't had those before in this universe. Once again, knowledge of how they were used, combined with her psionic powers were enough to achieve the same effect, even without any element zero in her body.
She’d need to run a more thorough battery of tests later on. Time to see how others had fared.
As she walked out to the porch of Evangeline’s villa, she noted Shepard lounging around. The Human was one of the few who hadn’t reached a Class Evolution point as she was already over level 1000, and the next one for her would be all the way at level 5000.
Shepard turned to look at her and could feel the difference right away. Seraphiel now felt much like the Goddess Charlotte Richards had felt. There was a pressure to her very existence. A pressure she exuded without even noticing. “You seem different. Almost like when I first met you. You got something good, I assume?” Shepard asked.
“You could say that.” She responded mysteriously. “And you’re more right than you think. I’m now much closer to how I was back then. Although, I’d argue I’m now better.”
Shepard whistled. “Bold claim, considering you were a force of nature back then.” She frowned a bit. ”Although, I can already feel that if I were to fight you, I’d lose. Not a great surprise, but…”
"Yes, you would," Seraphiel responded confidently and grinned. “I hope you enjoyed your brief time as the stronger one.”
Shepard blew a raspberry. “You’re insufferable either way.” Her response caused Seraphiel to laugh.
“What about the others?” She asked.
“Yoruichi and Wrex are still at it. Tatsumiya and Kaede finished and are dealing with some matters related to Mahora. As you know, Teclis and Shen-Zoo didn’t achieve a Class Evolution yet. Rangiku is down below testing her new abilities with Chachamaru.” Shepard explained. Nearly all of them had hit the same level at 1000 as well. Chachamaru and Rangiku were the only exceptions at 750, just like Seraphiel. They had started off at disparate levels but had reached a similar point together.
Funnily enough, Chachamaru was the one after Seraphiel who’d gained the most levels, as being a supporter gained her a fraction of everyone else's EXP gains. She was also a very good out-of-combat supporter, and her contributions were recognized fairly by the System.
Seraphiel had to remind herself that just because she was now outside the System, that didn’t mean everyone else would be. They would still need to train and gain EXP like normal. They’d also need materials for further Class Evolutions, once again something she wouldn’t have to deal with anymore.
The two silently enjoyed the peace and quiet for a moment, before the boisterous laughter of Wrex could be heard. "Shepard! I want a spar! I need to test my new abilities." The Krogan stomped out of the villa with confident steps before he suddenly came to a halt with his eyes locked on Seraphiel. His instincts were screaming danger at him. 'Do not pick a fight!' was the clear message, despite the massive upgrade he'd just gotten. "Dammit. Seraphiel, would you mind damping down on your presence? My instincts are going haywire."
“Oh, my apologies. I’m not used to having my old abilities back.” She reigned in her aura. She wasn’t a stealthy person, but she’d long since learned to hide her aura, as otherwise everyone with any senses would be afraid of her. She also wouldn’t be able to go anywhere, as everyone would be too weirded by her presence.
“How much of your old abilities DO you have back?” Wrex asked, curious and somewhat mirroring Shepard’s first questions.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Instead of explaining, Seraphiel picked up an apple from a nearby bowl and tossed it into the air. It suddenly froze there and started peeling itself layer by layer. The fruit shed itself into nothingness in a rain of tiny particles as she used her telekinesis to tear it apart almost atom by atom, and the process took less than ten seconds. Then all those particles suddenly came back together and reformed a perfect apple that dropped into her hand. She took a bite from it just for emphasis.
Wrex grunted and narrowed his eyes. “Point taken.”
"You stomped here looking quite pleased. Things went well I take it?" Shepard changed the subject. "You wanted a spar and everything."
“Right, right. I got my Krogan Battlemaster to rank SS, and I want someone with actual skill throwing some of their abilities at me. I want to see how much punishment my new defenses can take. And I’m certainly not asking Seraphiel to do it.” Wrex seemed to perk up a bit.
“You two go do that.” Seraphiel encouraged. “I need to do something. Wrex will probably like it.” She finished eating the apple, before tossing the stem away, which seemed to disintegrate in the air before landing.
As the two went to have their spar, Seraphiel exited the resort with a simple thought, finding herself in the hangar where their ship was moored. Her old ability of Reality Manipulation had become vastly, vastly easier to use. Celestials had always had the ability to appear where they were needed, but no one was better at it than her. She made her way to the spaceport area and the hangar where their ship was stored. She gave the vessel a critical look and made sure there was nothing aboard that could be considered personal effects or otherwise important. Then with a snap of her fingers, the whole thing came apart just like the apple earlier.
Now that she had her old abilities back, the ship they had been using was just a source of available mass and materials for her to use. She could create materials from thin air, but it was easier to use what was already there and change that mass into something more useful. That was not to say she wasn’t going to create more. Matter and Energy Manipulation were constituent parts of Reality Manipulation, so she could create and modify non-magical materials just about without limitation. As it also happened, her Zanpakutō had assured her that she now had access to an almost bottomless source of mana, so theoretically she could create magical materials as well. Time to put that to the test.
She started humming again, and Wraithbone started appearing in the air around her. She was not going to use the material for everything. However, the material was almost unrivaled when it came to conducting psionics and even doing something as simple as functioning as a power conduit or data circuit. The white substance in the air twisted and formed into a sort of nervous system for the future ship. It looked grotesque floating in the air, as if it was the neural system of some large beast. All the internal systems and weapons would be attached to this neural system. With that done, she moved to the skeleton of the new ship.
Wraithbone was sturdy, and it was used as armor for the Aeldari, but she knew of sturdier materials as well. This next part would be the hardest, because the materials she was going to use would inherently be something that resisted all sorts of powers, her own included, which made it hard to create. Slowly but surely, dark glossy substance flowed across the white nervous system like a thick liquid. The black skeleton that would protect the more vulnerable systems beneath. This was a creation of her own, something combining several materials from other universes. The main ingredients were Blackstone, Obsidion, and Dark Iron. Blackstone was psionically inert, while Obsidion was completely immune to magic once it solidified. Dark Iron on the other hand was practically indestructible, and could only be forged under very specific conditions.
After the skeleton came the organs and the brain. All the systems that would be connected to the nervous system she'd created, as well as the crew spaces inside the ship. She was making this ship larger than their previous one, both to give them more living space as well as to give them the ability to punch above their weight in battle. So, everybody got their own rooms, plenty of space for cargo, weapons, and materials. It even had a bar and a small spa. If they had to take in refugees again, this time those refugees wouldn’t need to stay in a cargo bay. The vessel had extensive hydroponics, which were of course empty for now, medical facilities and space for various activities like training. They’d need to get some more crew to keep everything running, but she was planning big. They’d also need a proper AI to fill the brains of the vessel.
The internal walls were made of Wraithbone for ease of moving and adjusting them, though the black liquid material formed a protective cocoon around the whole thing. Then it came time to armor and arm the ship. Instead of using the black material for the whole thing, she opted to use a material that was somewhat less durable but had the benefit of being able to regenerate from any and all damage. The Necrons had created this nice little material called Necrodermis, which formed their bodies as well as their ships. And they'd been the most frightening opponents of the Aeldari before moving into this universe. For weapons, she simply created typical Aeldari weaponry enhanced with technology from other universes. That universe did one thing well, and that thing was designing weapons. Other universes added their own little twists and the most important thing she added to the designs was magic. Just technology was great, but if you added magic to amplify the effects of said technology, you could achieve miracles. A Solar Lance that also struck with the righteous fury of Charlotte Richards sounded like a fun idea to her.
Once the last system fell into place, she knew she’d created a monster. The ship looked like some sort of deadly deep-sea predator. It was beautiful and sleek, but it gave a very ominous feeling. No one would mistake this ship for anything other than one meant for hunting other ships. And it also had teeth. Both those immediately visible, as well as those that were hidden from view.
The ship also needed a heart, the power system. Luckily, combining a few technologies from universes she’d been to made that the easiest part. She could create a power core that could power an Ecumenopolis like Coruscant and still stay the size of a large fruit. And with all the Wraithbone inside the ship, there was no point in having just one. Why leave an obvious weak spot, when you could have redundant power generation systems in several places around the ship? No need for an engineering section focused around a power core on this ship.
There was a lot to do still to get the ship fully operational. Supplies, crew, the plants for the hydroponics, furniture, booze for the bar, the AI, and most of the system needed programming. But it was a start. She might as well get started on the programming part while she waited for the others…
-------
“I love it.” Wrex practically squealed as he hugged the front of their new ship. “It looks like one of those monsters I’d like to slay!”
“I always knew you were a size queen.” Yoruichi joked while looking over the vessel. The new ship was easily more than triple the length and width of the old one without even considering height, which meant even more space inside, although thanks to the heavy armor, the space inside was somewhat smaller than one would think at first glance.
"That's not even a Light Cruiser anymore," Shepard commented. "Depending on the armament, it falls into Battle Cruiser territory."
“Knowing Seraphiel, definitely enough guns. Please Seraphiel, tell me it has enough guns?” Wrex practically begged.
“It has enough guns.” She reassured him. Oh boy did it have enough guns. The thing had more firepower than small fleets.
“I’m detecting quite a lot of magic, and yet, at the same time, the magic is very muted. I don’t think I would be able to sense it without touching the vessel.” Teclis said with closed eyes. “It’s like the material is dampening all signals from inside.”
He wasn’t the only one. Tatsumiya was doing the same, while Kaede kept popping in and out of the ship's shadow. "There's something…sinister about the materials." The latter commented.
“That’s because the main armor is made of Necrodermis. Not exactly a material with a great history. Very effective though.” Seraphiel replied.
“We’re going to need more crew, aren’t we?” Chachamaru asked, mostly rhetorically. “Just keeping the ship operational is going to take more people.”
“Yeah, we could use some dedicated personnel for the ship. We also need an AI, and I don’t suppose some more combat personnel would hurt. If we are dealing with bigger crises like the one on Coruscant, then we could definitely use some more people.” Seraphiel agreed.
"I know some people," Wrex grunted. "At least on the battle side of things. Grunt is still part of my clan. I also know an Asari Commando or two that could keep up."
"I can arrange for an AI. Or at least I can arrange for one that can manage things until we find a proper one." Chachamaru suggested. "Master has toyed with others like me, and one of them could work as a ship AI. They're not perhaps the best solution in the long term, and Master will want her back eventually, but at least we'll get the ship flight-worthy."
“Let’s put a pin on that. The VI I whipped up can keep things operational, and I’d really like to get a proper AI right away.” Seraphiel shot down Chachamaru’s idea. “I have some thoughts on who to approach for a real AI.”
“We might also get a few of the Mahora students about to graduate to work for us though. They won’t be as high level, but they’ll manage the support aspects just fine. They can keep a ship going.” Kaede promised. “Besides, I think your mum and brother might want to be part of this as well. They could get a leave of absence. Perhaps some of your old teammates as well? It would be nice practical training.”
“Eh, while my old teammates are ok as far as talent goes, they're still quite low-level. We can't really take them into the toughest situations. On the other hand, we could perhaps use a B-team of sorts that we could nurture and allow to get experience beside us." Seraphiel amended the idea. “Perhaps some of the older students?”
“You know some of our old Soul Reaper friends will jump at the chance. Ichigo and Kisuke are just the most obvious ones.” Yoruichi suggested as well.
"Sounds like we have some recruiting to do. I'm also assuming we need provisions and all the other sundry things a new ship would need?" Chachamaru summarized.
“Some furniture as well. Remember to get something comfortable. I made sure everyone has enough space. If push comes to shove, I can always enlarge the insides with spatial magic.” Seraphiel confirmed.
