I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

We all imagine ourselves the agents of our destiny, capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise? Or when we fall? Or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand? Does science point our way? Or is it God who intervenes, keeping us safe?

— General Ethan O'Connel, the day [The Twelve] got created.

 

I was ashamed.

 

I always thought myself better than the others, part of it was that I was among the very few that got taught directly under [The American Crusader]. A true legend of the American Armed Forces... Why he was probably the main reason that The American United Federation still stood proud after the first war.

 

Imagine my surprise when I saw him under the scrutiny of my [Skill]...My then normal non-evolved [Skill]... I still remember the taste of blood in my mouth when the skill got shoved away by an involuntary jerk reaction from [Him]. The man that would become one of my best friends, the man that would become my teacher Jack.

 

That was how the world knew him once, way before he became [More]. Jackson Brighton, [The American Crusader].

 

Under the effects of my skill though? He was a fount of power, taking in the mana in the air, purifying it in his [Core], absorbing it, and then expelling it back into the atmosphere where it would react once again with the normal mana, creating a chain reaction where more mana would be created... And then taking it that mana back and repeating it all once again.

 

I could even feel his skill and how the mana [Saturated] the non-powered people, allowing them to slowly make their own [Core] a proof that they could [Trigger] in the future, or if not, at least pass that chance to their descendants.

 

After seeing that I didn't need any other proof or study, I knew in my bones that the theory that said that a powered made new powereds was true...One only needed a [Power] like the one Jack had.

 

So when my brother finished making his own core and was preparing himself by going to heavily populated [Hero] areas... When I saw him with my skill and the [Taint] in him... I panicked and followed the example Jack did in automatic, I started shoving all the mana in the area into my [Core]... Almost cracked my core doing so.

 

But it helped me evolve my skill into [Unique], giving me control over all on my [Domain]. Allowing me to suppress the [Taint] in my brother by awakening his own [Skill] and tying his skill and the [Taint] to our home.

 

It made it impossible to allow him to live as a powered working for the government...And it made it impossible for him to live as a normal human since everyone knew he had [Triggered].

 

That was the same day I had to leave my home, for the [Taint] was too perceptible to my [Senses]. The hideous and murderous rage hidden in the [Core] of my own brother. It made it impossible to see him in the same light ever again.

 

So I ran away... It was among the very few times I saw Jack serious in a non [Hero] related work. The prisons no longer took [Tainted] without a word, not after they started making progress in dealing with the [Taint]. The work he did with the [Magical Girls] helped it seems. I of course knew he wanted closer work with them because he liked one of those girls.

 

The only other person that did almost the same as Jack's [Core], was Catherine Starlight [The Stardust Explorer]. She was a mass of [Mana] in the guise of a human, not like Jack. Whose body was slowly turning more attuned with [Mana], but almost as if an ordinary human tried to shove as much mana inside them as possible.

 

She was also the closest someone could get to being in the same [Tier] as Jack. So they naturally attracted each other. And so, she like Jack saw me crying rivers of blood at what I had done to my brother.

 

"Do you want me to...[Deal] with him?" Asked Jack in that cold and ruthless glare he used when we were doing the drills at the academy.

 

"Don't go killing your friend's family!" Said Catherine while throwing him a pillow, breaking my concentration to turn off my skill.

 

In those times my skill was always on since I awoke the [Unique] grade prematurely, so I felt it...No...[I truly felt them]. They both were feeding off each other's mana and [Growing] at the same time. Jack might have not noticed but the glint in the eyes of Catherine told me enough. She [Knew] what was happening there.

 

"Yeah...No, don't do anything." I said to my friend, "Just make sure they don't bother him...He can't leave our parent's home in Londinium...." That was all I could say before leaving.

 

After that I only found out that a group of [Villains] started showcasing control over their [Tainted] Skills, my brother never complained to me about how I had tampered with his powers. We still speak from time to time, and he tells me how he doesn't feel what others refer to as [The Call].

 

So he is grateful for that, even if his skill is [Tainted] he doesn't suffer from it and can even use it quite freely...Only limited to the terrain of our parent's original house. He ended up making it into a restaurant to make a living, and when you can feel the exact moment something is at the perfect temperature, your food ends quite well and liked.

 

But I never could go without shoving off my [Skill]... The few times I tried to turn it on...The [Hate] inside my brother's skill was unbearable, and it felt alive...As if the [Skill] knew I was the one that had jailed it.

 

Of course, Jack never took a single step against my brother, nor did anyone on the [Hero] or [Mage] side. Both Jack and Catherine made sure of that...

 

They never asked anything of me either nor of my brother. That is until they married and Catherine got pregnant.

 

They asked me to check on Catherine with my skill to make sure everything was going fine since she was quite mana-dense most [Skills] didn't work on her without making people go mad. And the same was for most [Spells] since they tried to read the mana...And she was the equivalent of a [Sun] surrounded by ants.

 

Somehow my [Skill] bypassed all of it and saw directly unto the root of all. One of the coworkers of Jack and Catherine called Amelia liked to theorize that my skill was affected when I [Sealed] my brother's. But either way, I was in debt to them so I obliged.

 

And while feeling as if my skill was draining me as never before I confirmed it, Catherine was indeed pregnant and her daughter was growing while being nurtured by the mana siphon that was both of her parents.

 

"She is growing quite well, her [Core] felt unstable so you might want to check on it when she is born." That was what I told them and if I didn't know the kind of monster they were I would think it was a happy family celebrating the pregnancy of the mother.

 

After her daughter was born [Avalon] got sealed away and an information blockade was made, no [Hero] or [Magical Girl] could get in without taking a Geass...And those that did usually choose to return inside to never be seen again. To be honest, it felt like an overkill, but since the daughter of Jack seemed to be born weak they probably wanted to make sure her [Core] formed quite well in a controlled environment.

 

That was what most of us thought at least...

 

So when he came to the school where I worked saying he would bring his daughter as a student...most of the faculty was quite happy. Only I saw something weird on it, perhaps it was how his [Skill] was rebuffing mine without giving anything away.

 

"When can we expect your daughter for her admission test?" That was what I asked, most of the other teachers and even the director gave me odd glances at this. Who would dare to reject the daughter of [The American Crusader]?

 

Most of the sons and daughters of [The Twelve] didn't get revealed as such for a reason...If they had any that is.

 

" Now now...I'm sure he was about to tell us that; no reason to get ourselves ahead by the excitement," said the director, Kendrick Hamilton, a man that got to that position through a series of questionable moves. Even under his skill John wasn't sure what to make of him besides thinking 'He is human'.

 

"She will arrive on the first day of classes and not one moment before." Answered Jack without leaving any doubt about his intention.

 

Everyone was floored and didn't know what to say at that point, besides one single woman. "So you are abusing your power already?" Agatha Moonstone, one of the teachers of the magic side of this school. And one of the many disciples of Catherine.

 

"Gatty...If you want we can bring Eli-Eli, but you will need to be responsible if someone tries to do something to her before we start reinforcing the wards~" Said Catherine in her usual playful tone.

 

At this point, everyone noticed something was amiss, after all...Why would the premier [Magical Girl] decide to reinforce their quite sturdy wards?

 

"Elizabeth is [Tainted]. We have confirmed this as of 10 years ago." Said with finality, Jack.

 

That made everything so clear now, from the information lockdown to a certain event that occurred 10 years ago where Jack alone stood against the whole world...And no one dared to say No to him.

 

No one knew how to react to this. The information alone...The Daughter of two of the most powerful beings on the planet held a [Tainted] skill...

 

Granted the discrimination wasn't as strong as before, usually only the people with skills or magic in direct confrontation with [Shadows] felt animosity towards the [Tainted]. Or people with skills like mine that could take a peek at the [Core].

 

So while I was processing and linking the dots Agatha was laughing "Serves you right!" while pointing at Catherine and laughing even harder.

 

Catherine didn't seem to mind it, but Jack on the other part. "[Stop]" He commanded respect. "If you wish to be assigned to another school say so, we will ensure you get any position anywhere in the world if you aren't comfortable teaching [My Daughter]. Know that if you decide to stay we will not ask for any favor done to her, nor do we wish for her path forward to be easy... I will not tolerate you all pampering Elizabeth...But at the same time, I will not ask you to go out of your way to antagonize her..." He said looking at each of us for a few seconds.

 

Agatha was among the very few that didn't turn her head away...I...I couldn't leave. Jack knew I owed him this and more for what he did, turning his attention elsewhere and allowing [The Hydra's Fang] to thrive, allowing my brother a place where he could find like-minded people to socialize...

 

I owed him at least this much.

 

"So yeah...You can bully her, ignore her, and even antagonize her ♪~" Said Catherine in her cheery tone, one could almost forget she was speaking about her own daughter. "She is sturdy and needs to learn to walk on her own..." Agatha was already smiling at the prospect of that.

 

So when Catherine turned from her usual cheery tone to a flat one it made quite the contrast. "But do mind, while we will not protect her from you all...We will also make sure no one protects you all from her." Her tone was icy cold, and her eyes reminded me of those stories old war veterans liked to tell.

 

About how the original [Magical Girls] were different from the ones we know nowadays... While those of today are all flowery and happy to go...The ones that arrived during the war were flying whirlwinds of death. Magical tornados full of sharp winds, water wells poisoned with curses that would make one go mad at the barracks and explode in gore...

 

Most of those present made their opinion know that they would not give Elizabeth more attention than needed, most of those wouldn't need to teach her anyway. Not unless she had the right set of power that is.

 

"So? What is she? Powered? Mage?" Asked Agatha, licking her lips at the idea of abusing the daughter of Catherine.

 

I for one wanted to know too, it would make preparing to react to her presence under my skill easier if I knew what she was. So when Jack answered, "We don't know." It made it all more complicated.

 

"You don't know? You have [The Twelve] at your fingertips a direct line to [The Saintsworths]'s after that airhead brought them to this world!" Said Agatha standing up and pointing at Catherine. "And YOU DON'T KNOW?!?"

 

"Hey!" Retaliated Catherine at the mention of being an airhead. "Shut it! The grown-ups are talking!" But got shut up quickly enough. Catherine was weak to Agatha after that whole Walpurgis debacle.

 

"We know she is [Tainted], but we aren't sure of what aspect her [Mana] took, we weren't present while she manifested her powers. And only saw the outcome of that." Said Jack while walking towards the smart board they had installed a few weeks ago. He plugged a drive into it and it soon enough showed some graphics with estimated mana output and a few pictures of a blonde girl playing in an urban yard.

 

"She has average mana reading most of the time, it fluctuates during the night, showing peak moments between 3:33 AM and 4:44 AM." He then moved extra graphics showing those spikes in mana. If the readings were true, that girl held the potential to [Trigger] as at the very least a D tier. Growing to a B tier at minimum at 18 years.

 

"The first demonstration of her powers was at five years, or at least the first documented one, we don't have any information about her first year." Added Catherine, that was...odd...

 

But he didn't get enough time to think about it since Jack carried on saying "We know it is [Shadow] based since these were found when a Villain attacked our house while we were away." And he showed pictures of spears made out of inky dark material and a man punctured by those same spears, tied by shadowy chains.

 

Sure enough, the image was gruesome, if Jack hadn't stated that this was done by her daughter...He would think Catherine had used [Shadow Magic].

 

Hell, he was very tempted to think that right now...But he had that face that he liked to use when something was final. "She will arrive on time, and will go through the procedure to check her [Core] and implant the [Geass]." He said while handing out a crystal orb like the one they used for that.

 

"That is custom-made, it will make sure the readings are correct and will share the information with the needed parts." Said Catherine while taking their own personal orb...And if his skill was right, she also took every single orb in the school.

 

"Of course, Elizabeth is already under the required [Geass] and will not be implanted with a new one...[Shadow Pact] will come and deliver an extra one under one of your teachers to make sure." Finished saying Jack while walking away.

 

No one said anything to that...The crystal they left here was probably more valuable than the whole school...His skill was telling him that at the very least it held more mana than the whole school together.

 

And so they prepared, for everything. Half the faculty made their statement that they would not deal with the girl unless the girl sought them out. The main healer said that he wouldn't even touch the girl. In his own words, if she was [Tainted] his power would react badly enough.

 

In the end, when she showed up some interesting things happened, and most of the students didn't seem to react adversely to her, her mana was contained quite well to most senses. The faculty didn't notice anything besides himself and Agatha.

 

He because his skill allowed him to see her for how she truly was, and he could smell the [Taint] in her [Core]. Agatha because she knew how Catherine worked her wards, so she could peek under them...Or so he thought, at this point, he wasn't sure if she was truly sensing something or just antagonizing the girl to spite Catherine.

 

Even so...I tried to not antagonize the poor girl, especially after she showed the signs of both a [Trigger] and a [Awakening]. So she would need to take both main classes.

 

Most of the teachers took this chance to ditch the classes she would need to take, but since she was a good student she managed to compensate those with practicals. And her dominion over her skill was splendid. Almost to the point of mechanical even.

 

So when they needed to make the first fight...He screwd it up.

 

He had to focus his skill over the arena...To prevent injuries and foul play, so when his skill [Saw] her core. He slipped.

 

Granted it was on the magical side, so it was wholly under the supervision of Agatha, but he could feel the [Darkness] in her, even if she was using another type of magic and not [Shadow], her control over the spell casting was superb... Even if Agatha wasn't praising it and just speaking about genius had it easy.

 

For his senses though, her control felt almost [Mechanical]. And since he couldn't see her without the feeling of being eaten by the [Darkness]. It was soo much [Darkness], it almost felt like the [Core] of the girl wanted to swallow him up, so he made an effort to ignore the girl entirely, he was still paying attention of course, but his skill was ignoring her.

 

And for that reason when the kid she was fighting against made an overkill attack, he couldn't react in time, since he thought she would reveal the [Taint]...Instead...He found a battered girl bleeding all over the place, almost dead standing proud over a defeated enemy. And a kid whose only wound was on his pride (And manhood). He of course poured his skill over the girl and found her [Shift] on the verge of breaking. So he sent the information to Agatha and then walked away.

 

He didn't want to [Feel] more than needed the core of the girl. At least her mastery over her own [Mana] was good, so he was hopeful that she would be the same when the fight in the arena for the powered side came.

 

He was mistaken. The girl showed up in full armor regalia clad in [Shadows], she reeked of [Shadows] and while the [Taint] smell was small, it was still there nonetheless. He gave her only a cursory glance over with his skill to make sure she was in control. And his skill almost recoiled at contact, he could swear his skill reported [Something] living in the shadow of the girl. Something similar to the feeling he got from the [Taint] but somehow more dangerous and primal.

 

But since the girl seemed in control enough he lifted his monitoring of the girl and whole focused on her opponent, the only student with a mana dense enough to not be affected by the girl. Akira.

 

The fight was...interesting. She was a natural at using her skill, the mechanical control she showed with the spell was nowhere to be seen, and she fought more like her father, a flowing show of skill with almost no stop in her movements. And the kid was sturdy enough to retaliate at her too!

 

So when she made a show of the kid...He was ashamed that he couldn't stop her in time, nor stop the kid when he tried to sneak on her.

 

That probably settled what side of the [Powered] world she would need to live on.

 

At least whatever method she had used to change her face could prevent it from spilling on her normal life. He had more important issues at hand with that kid, since he showed evidence of tampering made by [Gods] or [Demons] so he needed to make sure no [Demon] had made a contract with the kid, those couldn't be allowed to go unsupervised, not on a powered.

 

He would need to pass the report to Zephyria... And then to Jack, he would get mad if he didn't report that a kid near his daughter had the interest of the Italians...

 

Why did he accept this extra job again?

 

The favor Jack and Catherine had done to for brother shouldn't be this expensive.