(II) Surface

109 (II) Surface Shiv reactively took a step back. He placed himself in front of Uva and Valor, just in case something went wrong. Sparks flew out from the Penitent's joints. Can Hu's eyes flickered, like two light bulbs on the verge of bursting and burning out. The howling sounds coming from within Can Hu's body were now getting louder and louder as well. It was like metal being dragged against itself.

It was more than Shiv could bear.

"Alright, that's it. I'm putting a stop to this," Shiv said.

But Valor caught him by the shoulder. The Legendary Pathbearer’s grip wasn't strong in his diminished state, but it was firm and certain. "No," Valor said.

Shiv stared at Valor, his eyes widened. "Valor, it's gonna kill itself."

"No, it will not," Valor replied. "Trust that it knows its limits now. Trust that its promise to you was true. For if you cannot trust your allies in times of peace, then how can you do so in moments of war?"

The sound coming from inside Can Hu was absolutely deafening now. And one of Can Hu's eyes actually went out. Valor kept holding Shiv, however, and when Shiv looked to Uva to decide how he was going to act, she looked as lost as him. But it was Can Hu itself who decided its fate.

"Pathbearer," it called out to Shiv, "I have this. I have this." It spoke with such conviction that Shiv stayed in place. He stayed despite every fiber of his being telling him to intervene, to stop this.

The mercury pool began to compress inward, and then, with a violent pulse, it widened and spread out. Can Hu's hands came together, both its humanoid manipulator limbs and its massive industrial claws. With a resounding clang, the reforging concluded. A spell flashed above Can Hu and came slamming down on the item born of the merger.

But the moment it was done, Can Hu slumped. Adam fell to one knee. Uva sent fragments of her shield to help Can Hu stay standing, while Shiv strode right past the billowing black mass of his newly reforged cloak to see how the Penitent was doing.

Meanwhile, Adam gaffed on his hands and knees and slowly began to crawl towards Can Hu as well.

"Can Hu, Can Hu!" Shiv cried urgently. He held the machine gently, trying not to do any more damage.

But Can Hu turned, aiming its one good eye at Shiv. Its half skull was partially cracked. This reforging had strained it substantially. He should never have allowed it to do this. He should have...

"I told you," Can Hu said. There was a hint of pride in its voice. "I told you I could. I fulfilled the promise." Can Hu held up a shaking hand and pointed at the reforged item.

Only then did Shiv gaze upon the newly merged cloak in detail. And only then did he realize it was more than a cloak now. No, it was vast and billowing, something between a cape and a long coat, capable of shrouding Shiv's entire body. Previously, it had primarily been a mass of dimensional shadows—that dimensional space between Passage held together by clumps of Weaveress silk. The silk was overlaid now by an interweaving lattice of various alloys. They glistened in the light, shimmering brilliantly, and lining the great cloak. Again, a metallic outline. Motes of shadow dripped out from the grand cape as well, bits of Dimensionality peeling free.

Shiv reached out and took the cape in his hands. Once he did, a notification loaded.

Equipment Obtained:

Tier: Heroic

Condition: Stable

Composition: Spatial Magic; Varied Alloys

Enchantments > Dimensional Pocket; Portomancy 10; Shadowsense 50; Category One Dimension Core; Forest of Alloy; Adaptive Environment; Binding

Shiv's eyes widened. Heroic-Tier. Heroic. Can Hu shot past the threshold. It managed to advance the quality of both its Garden Bountiful Alloy and Shiv's Cloak of Midnight Kindred. It was more than just a minor dimensional pocket now, and the Shadowsense skill had increased as well.

Shiv could feel the forest residing within his cape. But the garden was like a small patch of stable space at its center, a space he could move or shift into place over the cape. As he did that, it was like an entrance appearing upon the great cape. The portal to the forest of alloy drew closer and revealed itself to him. Shiv could see vines of copper and trees made from all manner of metals and materials. And all that was revealed upon a canvas that functionally still felt like an article of silk. Stepping into the garden would be like pushing oneself into a curtain and entering a new dimension.

"Damn good work, Penitent," Shiv said, staring at Can Hu. The Penitent staggered on its feet but managed to stand.

"It is my aim to serve, my pride to serve, and it's my pleasure to receive," Can Hu crackled weakly.

"Well done, indeed," Adam said in response, a chuckle escaping from the Gate Lord as he stared at Can Hu. "Now we'll be able to start stuffing even more things in Shiv's pockets." Adam licked his lips. "And to get the rest of us some dimensional pockets as well."

As Shiv equipped his cloak, he threw a few leviathan rations inside of it. A second later, he pulled them back out just to see if he could.

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"Alright," Shiv said, "time to get the rest of my inventory back where it belongs."

“Before you do that,” Valor said, “there is something we need to discuss. It concerns you as well, Adam.”

Whatever amusement lit upon Adam's face was extinguished in a moment.

"Udraal?" Shiv asked. "Yeah, I kind of figured." He hesitated for a moment, but as soon as he met Adam's eyes, he knew he had to let Adam know. Maybe not the rest of the horror story he watched, but the part about their parents meeting Udraal.

"Adam, your mother, she told me something earlier. She said that she, your father, and my parents had contact with Udraal. They didn't just fight him. There was apparently a moment of truce or something, and he led them somewhere. And I think… My parents probably figured out how to do the ritual from him, or something."

"That is likely accurate." Valor sounded apprehensive for once. "I think you deserve to know that both my son and I were trying to create something." Valor hesitated before continuing. "Before a great many things happened, we were aligned in our work. Our main goal was to create something that went beyond the bounds of the System. Something that could usurp it entirely, in its finished form."

A silence fell over the room.

“We wanted to create something from the Great One's legacy. Something that couldn't be so easily controlled. Something that was beyond the confines of strife, that wasn't forced to struggle for its existence. Something beyond the System's capacity to challenge in any way. And during the attempt..." Valo released a ragged hiss that held a great deal of pain.

"During the attempt, I lost my love. And Udraal lost his mother. After that, there is a missing piece in my memories. But I think I gave up on the project after that, while my son committed himself fully. He gave himself entirely to the goal. But rather than just surpassing the System, he now also wanted to make something that could take someone back from the System. Take someone back from the clutches of death. Something ."

Shiv paused. "Like me?"

"It's likely. Your mind isn't quite like that of a Tarrasque's, but it is likely built upon the framework of one. And there is a reason for this. It's not just so that you have a cognitive template as durable as your soul and vitality. A Tarrasque is a unique creature in Integrated reality. And a Cursed Tarasque is inured even against Necromancy. From my research, I believe they are unique monsters meant to destroy worlds, that they were born from concentrations of severe conflict, forged by the System’s own hand. Their minds are capable of fixing themselves even after being broken, just like their bodies can be restored if only a single piece remains. Udraal was inspired to use them in certain ways, specifically as some kind of incubator or regenerator to restore the complete soul of another person. To regrow someone from the remains of their own being, their own skills…”

As Valor trailed off, Shiv sank into his own mind. As he thought, only one individual came to his mind. And it wasn't Udraal, but . Rose, who spawned from his Foreshadowing Skill. Rose, who was now tethered to his Unique Skill. Rose, who was caged by, trapped in, and bound to his vitae.

"Rose Van Erren," Valor said, echoing Shiv's very thoughts. "You said she emerged after you hit a skill evolution. You said she is now tied to your Unique Skill. That was clearly not a thing of freak circumstance. To regrow another Pathbearer from a fragment of their own soul, from a skill they had, is a resurrection. But skills are only part of a person. Vitality and mind, those are necessary as well. And since your mind can regenerate, and your vitality is bound to your soul..."

"Are you saying that resurrecting Rose was what I was designed to do? That that's what I'm for? An incubator of resurrections?" he asked.

"Perhaps," Valor replied.

Adam looked on, and his expression was absolutely shell-shocked. But, rather than despair, there were glowing embers of hope behind his eyes. While Shiv and Valor were lost and wrestling with the nature of Shiv's ontology, Adam was likely only hearing one thing: His mother could be resurrected.

"But..." Adam paused. "But my mother—she wasn't the only one who was killed during the ritual. I had an unborn sister."

Shiv had to put in significant effort to keep the horror from showing on his face. He swallowed. “I saw her in the vision. I know what happened to her.”

And suddenly, Adam's hope shrank. What replaced it was fear, but also a desire to know. "Can... can she be brought back as well?”

Shiv shook his head. "I don’t..." As he tried to think of a way to describe it without hurting Adam more, the images kept flashing through his mind; his father thrusting the blade through the baby and Shiv's own mother. Shiv swallowed. "My father sacrificed her—”

But before he could go further, Adam held up a hand and turned away. "No," he rasped. Read full story at novel•fire.net

Shiv paused, letting Adam process the moment. "Just… Don’t say anything anymore. I’ll… Later. Later. But my mother… She could still be restored. Is that what you're saying? That she could be brought back to life?"

"I do not know, Adam," Valor admitted. "But it is possible. If what my son was trying to do succeeded—and it sounds like it did, at least partially—then it is very much possible." Valor looked at his right arm, the one that allowed him to conduct Necromancy. "To gain any potential insight into this, we need a Master Animancer, at the very least.”

“And the easiest way to do so is finding another of your fragments," Adam surmised. "Alright, the moment we get a chance, I will do that. We'll find another piece of you. We will get as many pieces as possible, and we will assemble you, Valor. We will give you everything you need. And then you can look into Shiv. You can look into what... just what has been done to his very soul. And... and..."

Adam almost didn't dare say the next part. A shiver ran through his body. "...and then we can think about potentially... saving my mother," he finally managed. The statement sounded absolutely insane. And Adam sounded like he didn't want to believe it either. But something in him did, and the traitorous noise of hope leaked into his voice.

"Of course, Adam," Valor said. "You have my word. And this is my responsibility as well. I should have... There are things unfinished between me and my son.

“Things are unfinished between me and my father as well." Adam shook his head. "We all have many things to ask. But right now, we have a task at hand.” As he spoke, he walked over to the table and picked up the Hydromancy wand before strapping it to his belt. “I'm taking this one as it is. It's time to move. We have established a solid foothold here. And we are finally ready to return to the surface. Finally. Godsdammit. We’re so close."

And with the possibility of his mother being savable, Adam looked at everyone with a new surge of motivation flooding his being. Mirroring his rising mood, his sun grew brighter as well. "There are problems ahead of us, but we can see them solved. There are enemies around us, but we can see them slain." Adam swallowed. He tried to contain his rising excitement, his building hope. "Shiv, how much time do you need?"

"For what?"

"To prepare. To head out.”

"I've already done my cooking, Adam," Shiv said. He cracked his neck. "I'm just gonna go get my stuff, and then I'll be ready to head out through the gate."

"Good man. Before that, I need to draw you a map. There are several landmarks you need to remember, and you need to understand the general directions. I don't want you getting lost. I don't want there to be any problems on the way. We're going to do this fast and proper. Go. Fill your cape. When you get back, I need to talk with you about how we’re going to do this.”