(I) Arsenal
Chapter 133 of "Path of the Deathless" opens presenting twists: -Essential Reading at Phoenix Academy of The Yellowstone Republic66 (I)ArsenalâKeepâkeep away from me! Iâll do... Keep following!
-Essential Reading at Phoenix Academy of The Yellowstone Republic66 (I)
Arsenal
âKeepâkeep away from me! Iâll do anything. Donât touch me⌠Iâll do anything. Please, just keep her away⌠Keep her away! Donât let her touch my mind again. Please donât let her touch my mind again!â
It was a surreal sight, watching the almost 200-meter-long Dynamancer dragon grovel and beg. Its claws dug through clumps of dirt, and it wept like a traumatized, broken child. Just fifty meters away, its Inertium pike lay buried in the skull of its sole remaining companion.
Uva shared with Adam and Shiv what she did. She took hold of the Dynamancerâs mind. Then, as his sole surviving comrade tried to burn a team of wounded Trapdoor Weaveresses, she had the Dynamancer drive the weapon into its comrade from behind.
And now, the sole surviving dragon was barely sane. The trauma from being made to murder his own companion rendered it broken and hollow. It couldnât even look at Uvaâwouldnât meet her eyes as she stared at him.
Uva extended her Psychomancy threads out across the battlefield, coordinating with the surviving Shadow Cells, calling them in, and telling them to bring Valor with them.
Nearby, Shiv and Adam looked upon the Umbral with differing expressions. Shiv had a light look of euphoria on his face, and a feeling of desire spread through his body.
âThat was felling awesome,â he breathed, looking between the mind-broken living dragon and the nearby dead one. âGodsdamned, Uva. I mean⌠.â
For most of his life, Shiv was ostracized and alienated. Relationships werenât a possibility for him, and he never truly thought about his type. He was attracted to certain people, but that was about it. Right now, though, he discovered a very particular thing about his preferences: He very much liked cold and terrifying women, and some part of him realized that was likely a result of spending so much time under Georges as well. That thought made him shiver for a moment, but he shrugged it off.
Shiv thought with wonder.
Comparatively, Adamâs eyes were wide, his pupils dilated in near terror. He kept looking at the dragon as it lay in the dirt, shaking and weeping. The Young Lord shuddered.
âShiv, it is good that we have a reliable and potent ally in the form of Sister Uva, isnât it?â Adam said, swallowing. Shiv found himself vaguely aware of what the Young Lord was doing. The man was trying to reframe the situation in more palatable terms. What Adam was really terrified about, however, was how Uva could now easily rip into his mind as well and use him as a meat puppet.
Adam clearly didnât like the idea of being used as a meat puppet one bit.
âDonât worry, Adam,â Uva suddenly said. âI would never do that to you.â She turned to smile at him. âNot without reason.â She clearly meant that humorously, but a burst of cold fear still came from Adam, and her expression turned serious. âAdam, I would never break your mind that way.â
âWithout reason,â Adam replied, swallowing once again. âI think, I think that given the proper circumstances, and if I annoy you enoughââ
âIf you annoy me severely enough, at the most, I would perhaps take away your short-term memory. So you suddenly forget what you were on about and stop talking. Short of you becoming an enemy of the Composer and Weave, I will not harm or twist your mind.â Uva infused an injection of honesty into Adam. âAdam, hear my words. I will not hurt you this way. You are a noble friend and a reliable comrade. And Psychomancy is a heavy burden and a potent power to bear. I will not use it carelessly.â
Adamâs fear faded, and a slight affection replaced it. âThank you, Uva. Why, if I was this terrified of Shiv, he would continuously tease me.â
Shiv eyed the Young Lord and poked him in the shoulder. âDonât worry, Adam. Iâm going to continuously tease you about being afraid of Uva.â
Adam rolled his eyes. âOf course you are.â
The Young Lord sighed as he looked around. This stretch of the umbral wilderness was almost completely annihilated. The light of a burning forest beyond the horizon lit up their features. Adam's breath dragged as he pressed his lips together. âI didnât appreciate how destructive fights between Master-Tier opponents could get.â
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âAnd this didnât go unnoticed,â Uva said. âI can feel other minds approaching, many of them. Some of them are First Blood vampires. Dimensionals as well. They are avoiding the area, though. Just patrols, with no urge to die. I can feel the fear seeping from their minds.â
âHow can you tell?â Shiv asked.
Uva hummed. âThe way they think, the things they speak about.â
âJust how far does your mana reach now?â Adam blinked.
Uva regarded him for a moment and frowned in concentration. âMaybe a bit over twelve kilometers.â
â kilometers?â Adam blurted out. âTwelve?â
Uva narrowed her eyes at him. âYou can shoot much further than that with your Awareness and yourâŚâ She regarded his bow. âYour new arrow. What is that?â
âThatâs a Veilpiercer arrow,â Adam said, coughing as he suddenly adjusted his posture. He held his head high and pulled his shoulders back, puffing out his chest without even realizing it. âIt allows me to fire an arrow across dimensions. More than that, it lets me create a temporary dimension between me and my target. The arrow also gets faster the longer it travels. Tell her, Shiv.â
Instead of telling her verbally, Shiv just sent her the memoryâand especially of Adam saving him from the axe-bearer. Despite Shivâs unrelenting urge to tease Adam, that memory of Adam extending a hand down to Shiv after distracting the axe-bearer meant a lot. Especially with the way his strange dream bled over into it. Shiv paused. There was a heaviness inside of him. The Young Lord and heâthey didnât have the best history. But after all this, after Shiv saved Adam and Adam came back for him, whatever they were before, it wasnât anymore. He was sure of it.
âThat is quite impressive, Adam,â Uva said. âAnd your arrows, they move faster the longer they travel?â
âIndeed,â Adam said. âI donât even know the limits to that. And when it tears open a dimensional rift, the arrow doesnât move in reality, right? It just accelerates even faster and travels on a shorter route. And we can travel through the dimensional tear. Itâs not nearly as long as taking the direct route in the physical world. There are so many things I can do. There are so many experiments I canâŚâ His words trailed as a flash of light washed over them.
All three of them turned and noticed three beams shooting high into the sky. The colors that composed the beams were dynamic, constantly shifting, and tendrils of mana zipped up from the land, splashing into the beams. More than that, the rising columns of magic called to each of them with a soft squeal.
Just then, notifications flashed across all three of their eyes.
Master-Tier Equipment Reforged
Shiv grunted a laugh. âRight, we still got some hidden Master-Tier items to pick up. I got a feeling I know what Iâm about to get. What about you two?â
Adam briefly narrowed his eyes, his irises flaring as he activated his Seer of Horizons. A few moments later, his expression changed into one of fascination.
âWhat?â Shiv replied. âWhat do you see?â
âI⌠We should go and gather the items first. Iâm pretty sure I know what the system prepared for you, Shiv, but me and Uva⌠might have some examining to do. Wait, let me make this quick.â The Young Lord promptly fired three arrows at once. Three different dimensional rifts then appeared before them, leading to three different glowing items. Uva and Shiv stared at Adam. He just grinned. âOne at a time. Someone needs to watch the â
Something about Tarlowâs kukri felt right in Shivâs hand. The system applied its strange magics to reduce the great bladeâs size and make it easier for him to wield, but there were some other minor changes as well. For one, the handle was now completely molded from adamantine bone, which let him mold it using his Biomancy.
Equipment Obtained:
Tier: Master
Condition: Perfect
Composition: Adamantine Bone; Stellarite
Enchantments > Speed-Amplification; Self-Mending; Conduit of Dawn; Chrono-Anchored Strike; Binding
As Shiv held the blade, he examined its composition beyond the handle. The blade itself was Stellarite, much like the saber he got for Adam. Much like Harknessâs rapier as well. The blade thrummed with power, but it wasnât just Shivâs Deepest Edge. Instead, fractals of gold rippled out from its curved length as Shiv studied the blade. It also made his body feel lighter and faster. No wonder Tarlow felt so absurdly fast with the blade in her hand.
Shiv examined its Enchantments and frowned. He knew what most of them meant. Conduit of Dawn was how she unleashed beams of intense heat from the blade, but was something unknown to him. To him, but not to Uva.
âA Chronomancy EnchantmentâŚâ Uva blinked. âThat is remarkable. For someone to invest such a skill into a blade⌠It's unthinkable. The number of people who develop Chronomancyâitâs rarer than even becoming a Psychomancer.â
Shiv spun the blade in his hand and tested it. He walked over to the dead dragon nearby and slashed at it. Deepest Edge carried the cut all the way through, and the unmoving corpse was hewed open as if someone had dropped a 100-meter-long guillotine upon its neck. Shiv took a few steps back and reached into the bladeâs Enchantment, focusing on the deep power within, and just as he remembered performing the cut, he immediately jolted across existenceâacross as he repeated the very same slash. Once more, his Deepest Edge and other skills triggered, and this time, the dragon was completely beheaded. Blood spewed across the ground, and Adam shuddered.
âWow,â Shiv breathed. âThat explains how she kept stabbing me in the back the same way every timeâhow it felt like she just kept blinking into me. I guessed it might have been spatial magic, but Can Hu said it could beââ Shiv paused. â. Can Hu!â
He was about to launch himself into the air to seek his downed automaton companion when Uva told him to remain calm as her mana strings twitched with new information.. âTrapdoor found him. He is well. They will transport him soon. He also wishes to convey a message: He says that he is ashamed that he couldnât help more.â
Shiv shook his head. âThe only reason why I managed to block practically anything Tarlow did was because of Can Hu. When I lost it, she started smashing me aroundâflung me into the big guy, and he cracked my skull open, even though Adamantine Adaption reduces the damage from repeated attacks a .â
âRight, about that. Shiv, have I told you what a bloody cockroach you are?â Adam asked.
Shiv nodded indifferently. âPractically every day.â
âItâs a compliment, this time. That thing was hitting you hard enough to cause small earthquakes. When it struck you with its axe the first time, I passed out just from the shockwave.â
Shiv considered that, and he snorted. âYeah, you do have kind of a glass jaw.â
Adam scoffed. âOr maybe Iâm a normal person who doesnât get skills meant for monsters.â
Shiv grunted. âMaybe. I donât see a problem with being an obscene monster. Helps me survive.â He rubbed his face. There were a lot of pieces in him that were still broken. When his Biomancy recovered, he was going to store some of his new wounds for examination. He had almost managed to create a magically constructed injury against the Psychomancer, but he was still missing a lot of details. This would be good for practical study.
âWell, anyway, perhaps this might help me with my fragility,â Adam muttered. He plucked a vambrace off the ground, and Shiv stared at it. It looked like a cracked, broken, withered length of blackened leather, but it was still held together by something he couldnât see. As Adam stretched his armored hand through the vambrace, a fissure splashed over his armâa fissure of green and corrosive energy.
Shiv flung himself back twenty meters. âShit, Adam! Felling warn me when you put on something Necromantic!â
But the Young Lord was no longer listening. Instead, he observed his new vambrace, flexing his fingers, and the corrosion danced between every digit. Slowly, a fissure opened atop his palmâa fissure that expanded and became a realm filled with lashing, corrosive power. It widened into a dense shape that pulled at the world, drawing in motes of withered blackness. Studying the item through Adamâs mind, Shiv saw its Enchantments as well.
Equipment Obtained:
Tier: Master
Condition: Corroded
Composition: Withered Leather
Enchantments > Master Spatial Anchor; Master Dimensional Corrosion; Necromancy 50; Binding