Hey guys! It is I, the Phoenix, back with another chapter of the new and improved and totally here to stay Up In Arms!

The Poll results came in a while back, and the White Knight Option won by a Landslide.

But before we go onto that, there's something that I need to clear up; Embryos can't switch between people. What I'm trying to say is that several people kept telling me to allow her Embryo to switch between Bedivere and Lancelot.

That isn't how Embryos work.

Maybe I did a bad job of explaining what Embryos were, so just look it up in the Infinite Dendrogram Wiki, and then you'll probably understand why that wouldn't work. Same with the Ereshkigal/Ishtar Fusion Embryo debate for The Tale of Dekiru. I'll do some more Embryo exposition in the future to clear up confusion.

On that note, editing The Tale of Dekiru is proving to be a little tougher than I imagined, so it will take some time. The problem is that there was a lot of exposition on his Job and Embryo, which are invalid. So please be patient on that front.

The second thing that I need to mention is that the Embryos are NOT Servants or Heroic Spirits. They are essentially shells that express their core Concept using a figure from human mythology. Taylor's Embryo is called Bedivere as it takes the form of the Silver Arm the alternate Bedivere used on his quest. He isn't actually Bedivere, he just looks and acts like it based on the data records of the original.

Just wanted to get that cleared up.

Anyways, several people were still asking me to do a darker story, but Worm really has enough of those.

I'm going to put this down now; Up In Arms will be a primarily bright story with a few dark moments interspersed, and conflicts are resolved with friendship and firepower. The fights may be kind of grisly sometimes, and there may be some touching upon and delving into mental issues, something that will come up pretty soon considering the premier friendship in this story is between Amy and Taylor.

That's the final decision.

Anyways, I've edited the first two chapters to correspond with the new story direction, so go over them, especialy the ends of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, in order to check out the differences, because I added some extra content in Chapter 1 and explained how Bedivere worked in Chapter 2.

Also, when Bedivere is active and fused to Taylor, I will refer to him as her 'Arm', while her other, non-Embryo arm will simply be called as her 'arm'. Just putting that across for story reference.

Anyways, this Chaoter is more of a preparation chapter, and I've skipped the more boring parts of the Dungeon Grinding because I was repeatedly told to by you guys.

While this chapter, in my opinion, is rather bland, it is a necessary set up for the rest of this Arc, which is going to be BIG.

Also, I'm going to try some things in this story that have either not been done yet or are extremely rare.

Some of these things may show up by the time the first Arc itself is over.

Anyways, I'm not going to lollygag any further, so let's get on with the Chapter!

Player 1.3

{Singular Swordswoman, Taylor Hebert}

Taylor heaved a sigh of relief as a Zombie disappeared into motes of light, having been slain by her hand.

A small indicator popped up in her vision, and she grinned as she got the notification that she had reached Level 12.

She'd been dungeon crawling for almost four hours now, and with this final Zombie, had cleared the first 2 Floors and most of the Third Floor.

Despite the strain she put on her body, fighting for hours, she didn't feel tired in the least.

Was that another aspect of her powers?

Or maybe, Taylor realized, it was due to the fact that her SP hadn't hit 0 yet. After all, SP stood for Stamina Points, so it made sense that an aspect of her physical condition would be dependent on them.

However, even if she had SP to spare, she was still utterly grossed out by the Zombies that had started spawning on the Third Floor.

The First Floor had been full of Civilian Skeletons, and then the Second had Warrior Skeletons along with them, while the Third Floor had good old Zombies thrown into the fray.

And they were utterly disgusting.

Just like the skeleton, it was obviously an undead-type Monster. However, unlike the bare, bony frame from before, this one was... plumper. That was because its bones were covered in rotten, maggot-infested flesh.

However, the covering wasn't complete, and she could see yellow and dark red liquids dripping out of the places where its flesh was missing. The incredibly bad stench they gave off only added to the horror factor.

Considering that she used a knife, Taylor was forced to get in close to deal damage, something that only grossed her out even more, as the stench was proportionally stronger when she was only inches away from the moaning source.

The battles also took a toll on her weapon.

The knife in her hands was almost totally ruined though, stained with dried blood and other fluids, chipped in different places.

It was on its last few points of Durability, meaning she needed to get a new Weapon, and fast.

Unfortunately, there was no Store in sight.

Even the Window, a translucent screen that showed her Player Data and Status, didn't have a tab for buying Items.

So it looked like she would have to make do without a proper Weapon until she could find a Store.

Of course, some of the Warrior Skeletons had swords that she could probably have used, but those disappeared along with them when they died.

Checking the time on her Window, Taylor decided to finish up the Third Floor and then leave the Dungeon to grab some lunch. After that, she would go home, take a nap, and do some research.

"Master, I believe that the Monster up ahead is what you'd refer to as a Mini-Boss." chimed in Bedivere, his voice emanating from her Arm.

Her Embryo had been a rather helpful companion, both because of his positive presence, and because of his Skill. He was utterly calm even as Taylor faced down Monsters straight out of horror movies.

However, Bedivere had totally freaked out when one of the Zombies had gotten a bit of its... secretions on her Arm, something Taylor had found amusing until she realized that she could also in fact feel the disgusting liquids on her Arm, resulting in her promptly freaking out as well.

They'd both calmed down when she wiped off the fluid from her Arm and threw away the handkerchief. Taylor could totally understand her partner's squeamishness on the subject, because not only was Bedivere technically a newborn, but while Taylor's Arm was just that, an arm, it was Bedivere's entire body, meaning that he basically had been taking a bath in Zombie goo when it splattered on the Arm.

Taylor moved her arm to brush away a few silver strands of hair.

Yeah, that was another thing.

When Bedivere was Equipped as her Arm, Taylor's hair color also changed to silver, becoming straight, while her eyes became green in color. It was a nifty little thing that made having a secret identity much easier, so Taylor wasn't complaining, although she couldn't help but wonder as to why her entire color scheme seemed to be revolving around silver.

Not that she was complaining; she looked pretty cool like that, even if she preferred her natural hair color, which she inherited from her mother.

"Well, let's do this then." she said to herself, mustering up some bravado.

Taylor turned the corner, and found that Bedivere had been right; a Mini-Boss was indeed waiting for them, although a pair of stairs were present behind it, marking it as the last section of the Third Floor.

The Mini-Boss fortunately wasn't a Zombie, as Taylor did not like fighting those, but rather was a Skeleton Duelist, according to the words floating above its head.

It wore a wide hat, like something out of an old movie, and had a flamberge in its hand, clearly its main weapon of choice. It didn't look too much out of the ordinary, apart from the fact that it was in pristine condition, although the Weapon looked pretty sharp even from a distance.

As soon as the skeleton saw her, it dashed straight at her, sword at the ready.

"Switch: On!"

Taylor's Arm began to glow, and she felt the boost to her Stats give just enough AGI for her to duck out of the way, the blade spearing though where she had been moments earlier with a hiss of displaced air.

Taylor was already in motion, however, and stabbed upwards with her knife, striking away the flamberge, and shoulder tackled the Skeleton, causing it to stumble, and lose its bony grip on its weapon, the flamberge clattering to the floor.

She had to give the Skeleton credit; when she tried to stab it with her blade, it moved out of the way just enough for Taylor's knife to slide through its ribs without harming it, and clocked her in the face, sending her stumbling back.

For something with no muscles, that Skeleton hit pretty hard.

Her knife also fell on the ground and burst into motes of light, it's Durability exhausted.

Even though her weapon was gone, Taylor didn't panic.

Instead, she scooped up the fallen flamberge with her left hand and passed it to her right.

The Weapon's weight felt just right in her grasp, and as the Skeleton advanced, Taylor used one of the Skills she had received from the Singular Swordswoman Job.

"Laser Sword!"

The flamberge turned into a white lightsaber. There was no other way to describe it, as the blade glowed, giving off both light and the accompanying heat, and a faint thrum was audible as it interacted with the air around it.

Taylor's speed increased as she swung the sword with all her strength, and it cleaved through the Skeleton's Skull like butter, and kept going as she continued her downward swing, before it neatly bisected the bag of bones, causing it to burst into particles.

Laser Sword was one of the Skills she had gotten while Leveling Up in the Upper Floors. It allowed her to enchant her blade with the light element, which basically turned the sword into a lightsaber, as it even had the same heat behind it.

The Skill only lasted for a single attack, but it was still useful.

That wasn't the only one she had gotten though.

As her Level went up to 14, Taylor received a notification on her Window that she had Unlocked the Thunder Slash Skill. The description was pretty simple; it was basically an Eletric Attribute version of her Laser Sword Skill.

Combined with Single Swordsmanship, Multi-Processor, Identify, Killing Intent Projection, Crest Disguise, Pain Tolerance, Cook and Reveal, that gave her a grand total of 10 Skills.

Single Swordsmanship was a Passive Skill from her Job, and the first Job Skill she had unlocked.

What it did was simple; when Taylor was fighting using only one sword in one hand, it gave her a boost to AGI when swinging her sword and attacking with it. At Level 1, this bonus was 5%.

This was the only Skill unique to Singular Swordswoman Job, when compared to its sister Job, Swordswoman. Apart from that, the two Jobs more or less shared the same Skills, although the Status Growth for Singular Swordswoman focused more on AGI and STR growth, though in return, her END growth was lower than it would have been under the normal Swordswoman Job.

That was okay with her, because END was all well and good, but there was no way in hell Taylor was going to try and tank attacks from enemy Capes, making AGI way more useful for her, as it increased both speed and perception, making it invaluable.

Seriously, trying to go for a Tank Build in a World where Capes like Grey Boy and Bonesaw existed was literally asking to be killed, or worse.

Killing Intent Projection and Crest Disguise were the Skills she had earned on the way to the Brockton Depths, and were useful general Skills in their own right.

Reveal and Identify were also general Skills that she had unlocked, and allowed her to find out information about People and Items respectively. She wouldn't get too much out of it, but it was handy for comparing Stats and the like.

Pain Tolerance... was a Skill she was grateful for, as Cape fights would undoubtedly hurt, but at the same time she didn't want to think about how she had gotten that Skill in the first place.

Cook was a Sense Skill, a type of Skill that relied on her own talent and natural ability in order to be very effective. Since she had pretty much started cooking for herself after her mom died, Taylor wasn't surprised to see this Skill in her repertoire.

However, Multiple Processing was a Skill she had no idea how she got.

To put it simply; it was a Thinker power, and a damn strong one was well, easily a 4 on the Rankings.

Multiple Processing allowed her to run multiple simultaneous Streams of thought, easily making her one of the World's most powerful multitaskers. She could think multiple thoughts and perform multiple actions simultaneously (mentally speaking) with that ability.

It cost SP for her to use, the amount increasing with the number of simultaneous Streams of thought, but otherwise had no drawbacks, like the famous Thinker headaches, unless she exhausted her SP using it.

The implications alone were huge.

For example, she could learn three different subjects at the same time as long as she could see all three textbooks, by creating a Stream of thought to process each one.

What Taylor didn't understand was how she got an ability like that.

It made zero sense. All the other Skills were quite obvious, but this one was a mystery. It certainly wasn't an ability she could have gained naturally, that was for sure. This seemed more like a power a Master would have in order to control multiple projections at the same time.

So why did she have it?

Taylor didn't know, and decided that there really wasn't any point in trying to figure out that mystery at the moment.

Like getting strong enough to become a Cape.

"Switch: Off" she muttered, deactivating her Skill, preparing to go further.

It was then that she noticed the Flamberge in her hand hadn't disappeared.

She used her Identify Skill, and found that it was a simple weapon made out of decent quality steel, with a Level 1 Skill called Wave Motion Oscillator that caused it to redirect the impact from clashing weapons back to the attacker, causing their Weapons to either take damage or causing them lose balance.

Looked like a Monster Drop left behind by the Skeleton Duelist.

Neat.

Taylor doubted a simple steel weapon would last long, but it was better than the flimsy knife from before.

"My Lady, it is best we start heading back." said Bedivere. "Your SP is starting to run low, and you should grab lunch. It is unhealthy to avoid meals, even for the sake of growing stronger."

Taylor sighed, but admitted Bedivere had a point.

"Fine. I'll stop things here for now. After lunch, though? I don't think dad will come home until around nine or ten; he said he'll be late today." said Taylor, tapping a tile on the wall next to the staircase, causing it to glow as proof that she had made it until that point.

"After lunch. We should make it to Floor 5 or 6 safely now that you have a proper Weapon, Master." replied Bedivere. "Although, I must admit that there is a Skill I am trying to obtain first."

"A Skill?" asked Taylor, beginning to walk back towards the surface.

"Optical Camouflage." affirmed Bedivere. "If I can obtain this Skill, then you can keep me Equipped even in Winslow and in public without drawing attention."

"That sounds pretty cool." admitted Taylor. "But what's the point? I mean, I can summon you in a second."

"Two reasons. The first is that I don't want to leave you vulnerable, Master, even for the split second it takes you to summon me." said Bedivere seriously.

Taylor flushed in embarrassment, though not an unpleasant kind. It was kind of strange, after Emma's betrayal, Winslow, and her strained bond with her father, to have someone actually looking out for her and caring about her.

But she welcomed it all the same, because she didn't want to be alone anymore.

Actually, now that she thought about it, was Bedivere technically an imaginary friend? He was made from her thoughts, and staved of the loneliness.

It was entirely plausible.

Taylor decided to ignore that line of thought, because she could tell that path led to madness.

"So what's the second reason?" she asked, her cheeks still red.

"To conceal the true nature of our power as Master and Embryo. My arm appears like what you popularly refer to as 'Tinkertech', so if you had me Equipped at all times, it would create the illusion that you are a Tinker, something that is easier to go with than summoning me out of thin air. There may be situations where for whatever reason, you did not Equip me before heading into a fight. In that case, considering there are witnesses, it is easier to pretend like I was always there, as the Embryo Summoning process isn't flashy, but isn't easy to ignore either."

"Those sounds like good enough reasons..." said Taylor, thinking deeply. "But what about people like Armsmaster? The PRT probably has Tinkertech that can see through invisibility, by scanning radiation or heat signatures."

A contemplative sound came from her Arm. "First of all, Optical Camouflage prevents detection from all vision-based causes like X-Ray, Thermal or Nuclear Vision. Second of all, while you raise a fair point, Master, you forget that I am not truly a machine. I am more like a glove that fuses to your body instead of being worn on it. I do not give off emissions of any sort, making it impossible for me to be traced until I reveal myself. Of course, we won't be able to attack when the Skill is activated, but apart from that the drawbacks are nil."

Right. That made a good amount of sense and seemed very logical.

"Okay, so how are we supposed to get the Skill anyways?

"I'm not quite sure." said Bedivere "I do not have that information. "While I was born Equipped with basic knowledge on Jobs and Skills, the method to obtain the Optical Camouflage is still a mystery."

"Well, I guess the only thing we can really do is a little bit of T & E." said Taylor.

{Fugly Bob's, Brockton Bay}

It looked like the rumors were true; Fugly Bob's had the greasiest burgers on the planet.

'Master, is it truly wise to eat this... burger?' asked Bedivere telepathically, the tone of his mental voice tinged with horrified fascination.

A bead of sweat ran down Taylor's brow as she looked at the... creature, waiting innocently on the plate before her. Grease dripped off of it in almost as much volume as the sauce contained within the food item.

'Thankfully, as a Player, my biology's been overhauled.' she replied tentatively. 'I think that's the only reason why I'll survive this meal.'

That was thankfully true. While she didn't have too many advantages as a Player biology-wise, still being susceptible to transmissible diseases and all, she was much more healthy than the average human or even Parahuman; things like cholesterol and diabetes were no longer a worry.

In situations like these, this was definitely a boon.

Fugly Bob's was packed to the brim, with what looked like the entire population of the Lord's Street Market hanging out in and around the joint. Taylor herself sat at a small booth that was out of the way, inconspicuously eating a 'medium' burger that had more grease on it than every other piece of fast food she had eaten in her life.

Combined.

As she began to eat, Taylor decided to avert her eyes from the glossy grease and ask a question that had been bothering her.

'I did some research about Bedivere.' she said, taking a bite of the burger, admitting that it was pretty darn good even as she wiped the grease off her chin with a napkin. 'And everywhere I looked, I couldn't find any relation between him and a silver arm. He's known for returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake when Arthur was dying, but that's about it. Even though he was the First Seat of the Round Table, the amount of stories he actually had about his adventures were pretty low. You and Cheshire mentioned that an Embryo represents an aspect of the mythological figure they're named after. But the only relation I see between you and the real Bedivere is the fact that the original Bedivere only had one arm, and you replace one of my arms with a sort-of prosthetic.'

'Ah.' said Bedivere telepathically. 'A good question. Master, you are aware of the existence of parallel universes, correct?'

'Well, since Earth Aleph is a thing, yes?'

'In one such parallel universes, a very different legend of Bedivere was created. It was a case in which Bedivere did not return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, hoping that it would keep the king from dying. It unfortunately didn't work out like he would have hoped, and Bedivere then wandered the land for centuries, trying to find King Arthur so he could return Excalibur. Due to the enchantments of the legendary sword, Bedivere was able to live long past his natural lifespan. After over a thousand years, he washed up on the shores of Avalon, and turned to stone.'

'Wait, so magic is real? Like Excalibur is really a Holy Sword and everything? Avalon actually exists?' asked Taylor mentally.

'Of course, My Lady.' replied Bedivere in a manner-of-fact tone. 'After all, if magic did not exist, we would never have been able to meet, and I would never have been born.'

Well, magic was a thing then.

Looks like all those Capes claiming their powers were magic actually weren't too far off.

'So what happened to that Bedivere next?' asked Taylor. Her curiosity and the love for literature her mother had inspired in her shone brightly, as she was deeply intrigued by this alternate possibility, especially due to the fact that magic was actually real, meaning that all those fantastical events throughout history might have actually happened.

'Well, the body of Arthur that had been left behind was possessed by his Holy Lance, Rhongomyniad, turning the King into a Divine Spirit. When he summoned the Knights of the Round Table once more to enact a plan to seal worthy humans within his Lance, which doubles as the Tower at the Ends of the World, Merlin awakened Bedivere, and fashioned him a silver arm, Airgetlám, from Excalibur, which would allow him to match the other Knights of the Round Table, who had been empowered by the Lion King's Gifts, at the cost of his soul. After a long journey, he was able to defeat the Lion King with his comrades, and died, having completed his duty. That silver arm that he used to carry out his perceived duty and save the World is the concept of Bedivere, the alternate Bedivere, that I was formed from. A false weapon used to defeat the unjust, though they may have been superior to the wielder.'

Taylor didn't really know how to respond after hearing a story like that, as fantastical as it sounded, but she supposed that it made sense why Bedivere had taken the Form that he had.

There were a couple things she didn't understand, like how Rhongomyniad turned Arthur's corpse into a God, and how it could seal human souls, but she supposed that those things didn't really matter at the moment.

Her primary goal at the moment was to become a Cape and prove her worth.

And right now, only one complication remained; she didn't have a costume.

She didn't even have a Cape name.

Honestly, her powers didn't really fit a certain theme, since she could literally get any power she wanted by choosing the appropriate Jobs.

That's what made things pretty difficult on her end; if her powers had a set theme, like say, bug control, then it would have been easy to come up with a Cape name and a Costume theme.

Instead, she was stumped, and trying to brainstorm by stuffing herself with Fugly Bob's Grease-nado Burger.

Even Bedivere, while leaning towards the Knight theme, had an appearance that was clearly futuristic, as his Arms Form looked like high-end Tinkertech.

She was starting to get a headache.

Once again, Taylor wondered why it was so damn hard to become a Cape. They never mentioned things like funding and costumes during all those Interviews and biographies.

Although, come to think of it, that could have been a play by the PRT in order to drive more independent Capes their way. Honestly, other than that one cloth-manipulating Cape and New Wave, there were almost no other independents in Brockton Bay, on both the Hero and the Villain sides of the spectrum.

The Heroes usually joined the PRT while the Villains in the Bay were conscripted into one of the three major gangs.

Or Coil, but there was almost nothing on that guy except for the fact that he used mercenaries and that he existed.

You either joined up with an organization or you died; that was the rule of the Bay. New Wave was the only true exception to that rule, although they'd stopped recruiting since the murder of Fleur, removing them as a viable option.

Plus there was the whole no-masks thing, which was a lot more complicated to go with when you didn't come from a family where everyone was a Cape.

To put it into simple terms; being a Cape really wasn't as simple as it seemed.

Taylor massaged her temples after wiping her hands with a napkin, careful to get the grease off.

Now that she was finished with lunch, it was probably time to go back to the Dungeon for more Level Grinding. Taylor guiltily admitted to herself that she was starting to get addicted to dungeon crawling. There was just something so... satisfying, when she saw a Monster burst into motes of light after being killed and when she Leveled Up or Learned a new Skill.

Was this what those D & D professionals felt like?

There was also the fact that Taylor literally had no idea what else to do, because she;

a) Had no friends

b) Had no hobby which took priority

and

c) Had no homework

Literally, the only productive activity she could think of was killing Monsters in a secret Dungeon underneath Brockton Bay to grow stronger so she could grow strong enough to kick the collective as*es of the gangbangers and literal Nazis polluting her city.

That was... kind of sad.

'My Lady, there is nothing to be ashamed about.' said Bedivere softly in her mind. 'The need to grow stronger is not an incorrect one. I too wish to grow stronger, and Evolve.'

Taylor sagged at that. Her Embryo had completely missed the point.

Well, he was literally born yesterday, so she couldn't expect him to pick up on something like that so quickly.

'I guess it's unanimous then; to the Dungeon!' Exclaimed Taylor, slightly exasperated.

She got up to leave, and strode out, missing the inquisitive glance from the blonde girl sitting a few booths away.

{A Few Hours Later, Brockton Depths}

"Thunder Slash!" cried Taylor, her flamberge bursting with electrical energy as she swung at a Ghost that was trying to claw her face off.

The strike connected, and while her blade passed clean through the Ghost, the electricity surrounding it like a shroud most certainly did not, releasing an electrical discharge that caused the Ghost to convulse and die... again, bursting into motes of light.

She had quickly found out that Physical attacks did absolutely nothing to Ghosts and their ilk, meaning the only way she could damage them was by using her Swordswoman Skills, which which added Elemental damage to her Physical attacks, meaning they were able to damage the Ghosts.

Although she was starting to run low on MP since that was the only way she was able to damage her current opponents.

Floor 7 was rather annoying that way.

For the past 3 hours, she had been systematically carving her way through hordes of Skeletons, Zombies and now Ghosts, taking minute intervals to regain SP and MP before starting again.

As a result, she was now Level 21, and had gained two more Skills; Blaze Edge and Serration Wave.

She hadn't gotten out unscathed though, and was bleeding from some gashes along her left arm and her right thigh, where she had been slashed by some particularly persistent Skeleton Warriors.

Unfortunately, Taylor's current powerset, as she had come to realize, wasn't really favorable for dealing with multiple enemies attacking at once, especially in a rather enclosed space like the Brockton Depths.

That was why she had taken a few hits when she had been swarmed by Skeleton Warriors. Thankfully, an application of Blaze Edge had sent the little buggers off to the afterlife, though she had taken damage.

Her HP was currently a little above half, while her SP and MP were below a quarter of their normal level.

Taylor opened her Inventory pouch and took out a couple of round bottles filled with different colored liquids.

She selected three, before downing each one, humming slightly at the fruity taste.

She let out a sigh of relief as all three of her vital bars went back up to full, the wounds on her body closing up and her energy returning to her.

Drop Items had started becoming more common as she descended into the Brockton Depths, and from the 5th Floor, the Monsters had started dropping Health, Mana and Stamina Potions, which were coming in handy at times like this one.

They didn't restore much, but considering her low Level, they worked like a charm.

'How are you holding up, Bedivere?' she asked mentally, holding up her Arm in order to look at the Fusion Arms Embryo.

'Durability is optimal, Mistress. We can continue onward at your leisure.'

"Okay then." she said, walking forward, towards the end of the 7th Floor.

She tapped the tile next to the staircase.

Until then, the tile had glowed, signifying that she had reached that Floor.

This time, the whole room began to shake.

"What the-?!"

The walls and floor began to morph as the tiles shifted rapidly, before everything went dark.

The lights came back on a moment later, but the room had changed drastically.

At the far end of the room, around 40 meters in length and width, she could make out the staircase leading to the lower Floors, covered in a shimmering barrier reminiscent of a force field.

However, it wasn't the closed off staircase that had caught her attention, nor the fact that she no longer had a way back due to the shifting of the room.

It was the ghostly figure in front of her, blocking her path.

It, no, she was a rather imposing figure, just as tall as her, wearing clothing that could only be described as Dress Armor, female clothing reinforced with armor and strips of metal. She held a rapier in her hand, which twinkled in the light, and her whole form was glowing a ghostly blue-white color. She wore a mask and a broad-brimmed Chevalier's hat, with a feather peeking out of the tip, and her expression was set in stone, emotionless and unfeeling. Her whole figure seemed to be wreathed in mist, that was rising off of her in waves.

The Black Words floating above her head sent a chill down Taylor's spine.

Blade Maiden Everlasting, Mysterious Lady.

Taylor inhaled sharply.

"Is that a-"

"Unique Boss Monster." replied Bedivere grimly, his voice tense.

Just great.

She was about to fight a UBM, an action that was pretty much suicide without at least 4 Low-Rank Jobs maxed out, at Level 21.

Perfect.

The situation wasn't good.

No escape, frugal Equipment, and a blade-toting obstacle in between.

But when had situations ever been good for her? She'd lived a rather average life before, but ever since her mother had died, Taylor had found herself in bad situations one after the other.

She would do what she had to. She would win. She wouldn't be pushed down again.

Taylor closed her eyes for a moment, calming herself and focusing her thoughts.

When she opened them again, they were shining with resolve.

UBM it may be, but as it was, it was just another obstacle in her path, another obstacle to overcome in order to reach her goal.

She placed her feet apart, one in front of the other, and leveled her flamberge at the UBM.

"Bedivere, prepare for battle!"

"At once, My Lady!"

And Taylor's very first fight for her life began with the clash of ringing steel.

{Undisclosed Location}

'["Maw of the Desert, Azmore" was defeated]

[Final Level: 56]

[MVP: "The Earth" Fatoum, Level 1,157 (Total Level: 1,657)]

[Embryo: "Overflowing Divine Vessel, The Grail"]

[MVP Special Reward: Legendary Item, "Bag of the Desert, Azmore"]'

'["The Crimson Armor, Exademon" was defeated]

[Final Level: 63]

[MVP: "King of Termination" Albert Schwartzkaiser, Level 620 (Total Level: 1,120)]

[Embryo: "Seven Star Turnover, Septentrion"]

[MVP Special Reward: Ancient Legendary Item, "Crimson Armor-Piercer, Exademon"]'

'["Four-Dimensional Kaiju, Todoghilas"]

[Final Level: 51]

[MVP: "Commander-in-Chief" Gray α Centauri, Level 490 (Total Level: 990)]

[Embryo: "Unidentified Flying Stronghold, Laputa"]

[MVP Special Reward: Ancient Legendary Item, "Ultimate Suit Series, Todoghilas"]'

'[Alert! Brockton Depths Layer 1 - Ancient Legendary UBM; Blade Maiden Everlasting, Mysterious Lady has been engaged in combat!]

[Final Level: 55]

[Challenger: "Singular Swordswoman" Taylor Hebert, Level 21 (Total Level: 21)]

[Embryo: Radiant Silver Arm, Bedivere]'

"So she's begun her battle against the Mysterious Lady."

In a space enlightened by countless data windows, it decided to speak out loud.

At first glance, it appeared to be an adult male human, but upon further inspection, one would notice that the skin covering its body had patches of draconic scales and beastly leather, while its head was decorated by devilish horns. Overall, it certainly looked more like a "humanoid monster" than a person, but the glasses it sported successfully moved the impression it gave off into the "human" territory — if only barely.

It was doing one of the jobs it was assigned to — the checking of the data concerning the defeat of UBMs over a set period of time. In Infinite Dendrogram, its role was the acknowledgement of UBMs.

Though UBMs were abnormally powerful and had abilities just as strong, their primary unique feature was their transformation into special rewards upon defeat.

However, the special rewards left by UBMs were completely unlike any basic Boss Monster drops. They were the materializations of the image — the concepts — surrounding the abilities of the defeated UBM, adjusted to best suit the most valuable person in the battle.

Indeed, it wasn't their strength or abilities that truly set them apart. That very transformation was the prime feature of UBMs.

No standard Monster possessed it. But if the Control AI responsible for UBMs acknowledged a unit as a UBM, it would become exactly that — a Monster with the function to transform into a special reward upon death.

The creature working in this space was Jabberwock — the very same control AI responsible for acknowledging, giving features to, and often designing UBMs.

If Cheshire, the Control AI primarily responsible for welcoming new Masters into The System, was Number Thirteen, Jabberwock was Number Four.

"She reached this point faster than I had expected." acknowledged Jabberwock with a tilt of his head. "However... Mysterious Lady is far from a pushover."

He would know. Not only was Mysterious Lady a UBM he had modified, but it was an Ancient Legendary Class UBM, the third highest Tier of UBM, beneath Mythical and of course, the dreaded Superior.

It seemed kind of overkill to put an Ancient Legenday Class UBM as the guardian of the first Layer of the Brockton depths, but Jabberwock had his reasons for doing so.

Mysterious Lady was powerful, that was for sure, but she also had a crippling weakness that would make her rather easy to defeat, even for a total newbie like Taylor.

She already had everything she needed to win. She just needed to recognize and grasp it, because this UBM was made to be a test of Wisdom, not Strength.

But still, Jabberwock was left rather... unsatisfied.

He didn't understand why Taylor Hebert, of all the people on Earth Bet, had been chosen by The System.

The Control AI themselves, while possessing the ability to manage and modify The System to a certain extent, were not the ones who created it; that honor belonged to the Infinite Jobs.

As such, they couldn't understand the reasons why the Infinite Jobs, and through them, The System had chosen to intervene on Earth Bet by saving that young girl from the parasitic shard that was about to take root within her.

It was... unusual behavior for a Player to be chosen outside the World of Infinite Dendrogram, and yet The System had gone above and beyond, choosing a Player from a parallel World far from their own.

The situation on Earth Bet was indeed tumultuous, but wasn't their problem.

Yet the Infinite Jobs seemed to think otherwise, and anchored The System to Earth Bet using the Hebert girl.

Jabberwock wanted to know why.

And he had a plan to find out.

The Control AI tapped a button on the screen before him, and a panel in the wall opened, revealing a bound figure, sealed by the Red King.

Though it seemed humanoid, this was in fact the same parasitic entity that had attempted to ingrain itself into their errant Master, designation; Queen Administrator.

"This will do just fine." said Jabberwock, a glint in his eyes as he studied the creature.

He waved his hand, and a Window popped up above the bound figure.

'[Activate *** Function?]'

Below it were two options, Yes and No.

"I wonder, Taylor Hebert... how will you overcome the challenges ahead?" muttered Jabberwock to himself.

The Control AI yearned to find out. Recently, things had fallen into a sort of stagnation; instead of witnessing the emergence of new powers, like he had hoped to, all he had borne withness to was the same group of people doing the same things over and over again.

But this?

There was a lot of information to be gleaned. And personally, Jabberwock would gain some much-needed entertainment and research material from the course of action he was about to undertake.

Cheshire would be furious with him, as would several of his brethren, but his own amoral curiosity got the better of him.

He tapped the Yes option, and there was a bright glow that lit up the room, releasing a burst of energy.

And though the agents supposedly had neither emotions nor humanoid mentality, the Queen Administrator screamed.

And that's a wrap, ladies and gents!

So yeah.

This chapter mainly establishes her combat style, while also setting the stage for the rest of this Arc, which will span at least 3 or even 4 more chapters, which I'm probably going to focus on.

First UBM fight approaches, which should give more of an Idea as to how the Infinite Dendrogram System works, something I've touched upon in the segment with Jabberwock.

Also, more Bedivere, but he still isn't as prominent as he should be; something that will be rectified in future chapters.

Mysterious Lady is something I came up with for an actual reason, which should be apparent in the next Chapter.

Do you guys have any ideas about Cape Names for Taylor?

I wanted to name her Airgetlám, after the actual Silver Arm Bedivere has in FGO, but that seems like a mouthful and people won't even bother trying to call her that.

Some people may argue; Glaistig Uaine, but IDK, honestly.

Personally, I was thinking either Duchess or Dame might be good example, because Taylor is more of a Chevalier Type, like D'Eon in Fate. Give me some suggestions, you guys!

Also, I wonder what Jabberwock has in store for Taylor...

And what did he do to the poor Queen Administrator?!

Find out next time, in Up In Arms, where Taylor meets Amy and the friendship of a lifetime begins... under the shadow of evil...

Spatialphoenix here, burning to ashes.