(I) Vitality
Get a glimpse of "Path of the Deathless" Chapter 246: -Udraal Thannâs Animancy Notes118 (I)VitalityAs Shiv tore across the skies of the gate, he noticed... Continue the adventure now!
-Udraal Thannâs Animancy Notes
118 (I)
Vitality
As Shiv tore across the skies of the gate, he noticed another change in the world. Everyone and everything in existence was glowing. It was all layered in a thin coat of Vitae, and he could feel it.
His insides thirsted for it, even though he was stable now. But Shiv knew the consequences of draining from that which did not glow so brightly, that which wasn't meant to be drained. Previously, he'd sapped only from living things, from people, from automata and organics alike. But now it felt like he could drain from anything. And more than vitality, it was the substance of the soul and one's life force. he wondered to himself.
Rose let out a cry in his arms, and he tried not to look at her. Her flesh was fused together in a horrific, disfigured mess, and he felt his insides twist as he muttered an apology.
"Shit," Shiv said. "Alright, RoseâSorry. I didnât know thatâIâll figure out how to fix you. I just need to⌠I just need to get some help firstâŚ"
But she couldn't hear him. She was too busy screaming and writhing. Shiv held Adam as well, and she constantly tried to push herself away. The soul wounds were horrific, and every movement of contact seemed to inflict a torturous effect on her.
But he could also feel her Vitae; perceive it within her flesh. He could sense the burns there. The burns that used to be his, that lined his very existence after Vicar Sullain unleashed the Necromantic sun upon the world. But if he could create her from his own body, if he could push her out and form her from his disfigured vitality, then could he take it back, or could he transfer it to someone else?
All these questions swirled through his mind as he spiked his gravitic field again. In the distance, the Obsidian Tower rose high, and its peak glistened with a prismatic brilliance when kissed by the azure mana core.
To his surprise, four more structures surrounded the Obsidian Tower. They were square blocks of concrete and stone, simple in design, but they had webs going between them, and Weaveresses walked upon them with ease. There were a few dimensionals patrolling the area above as well. More than that, there were what looked to be mystical checkpoints shrouding this new command center in layers. And that's what this place was: a command center being built right at the heart of the realm, right over the Vulketh Gateway as well.
Shiv passed through one of said checkpoints, a transparent sheen of magic that pulsed as he breached its threshold. It flashed green, and all the following layers blinked out as well. Uva's mana strand slipped out from his mind and continued on, snaking through the air until it touched one of the buildings.
It looked slightly like a tube that had been split in half. It was long, with no windows and only a large metal door. A large metal door that was rapidly swinging open as a Weaveress and two teams of Umbrals emerged.
Shiv recognized the Weaveress. It was the Biomancer that had helped him with Courtney a few days ago. Uva must have informed them of his coming. They also had two medical gurneys on standby, and the Umbrals were dressing themselves, seemingly preparing for active surgery and assistance. Shiv looked at Rose again and winced. She was screaming, always screaming, and he didn't think any amount of Biomancy or direct medical aid would help her. The wounds ran deeper than their ministrations could reach.
As he hit the ground, a vibration shuddered through him. Rose arced and let out a piercing shriek. "Sorry, sorry," Shiv whispered.
She writhed against him, pressing and trying to free herself. Her eyes were rolling. Sweat poured down her head and face. And under Shiv's right arm, Adam began to stir as well.
Adamâs vitality burned faintly. Shiv had drained too much all at once. He should have gone for something else after a while, but he'd been so thirsty then. When he was draining Adam, he'd thought he would never be sated again, never be filled with enough life force.
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"I'm going to get you well too," Shiv said, more a promise to himself than the unconscious Adam.
A concentration of threads speared into his mind and coalesced Uva herself into him, settling around his consciousness and briefly giving him a psionic embrace before she untangled herself and emerged right beside him. Her shield flashed out behind her as well, and the fragments drifted a bit like a cape. She was wearing her Arachnae Order leathers, but her shoes were the ones that Can Hu had reforged for herâthe prismatic equipment that would allow her to submerge herself in the earth.
She looked at Adam, and then she looked at Rose. Her face momentarily contorted in disgust at the severity of the woman's wounds, but then her eyes widened. "Is that really her?â
"Yes," Shiv said. "I, uh... Yeah. Wonât lie, this is some crazy shit. I canât believe it myself.â
She stared at him, and she nodded slowly. "I didn't doubt you, but I still needed to seeâŚ"
The Umbrals and the Weaveress received both Rose and Adam. Adam was merely weak, and Shiv had realized something. His Vitae was stable within his mana field. The Deathless thought to himself:
Holding on to that thought, he commanded his Vitaemancy and directed it back into Adam.
And before Uva or anyone else could ask what he was about to do, Shiv channeled the very substance that comprised his being. Streams of white and red exploded against Adam. He came aglow with a brilliant interplay of colors. Shiv immediately felt himself get weaker, but he'd also failed to account for another thing. His soul was material nowâas hard as adamantine, with all the strength and speed derived from his Gravitic Wrestler and Inertial Overdrive Skills.
The Vitae current crashed into Adam. His gurney shattered. The Umbrals jumped backward as the Gate Lord was blasted down and formed a small crater. Shiv let out a loud groan. "Shit, I didn't mean to do that."
But he didnât stop what he was doing; he just became more gentle. He fed a final surge of his vitality into the Adam. Suddenly, the Gate Lord folded over, grabbing at his ribs as he coughed violently. Now Adam came aglow while Shiv's inner brightness dimmed. The Deathless staggered back from sheer exhaustion. It was kind of like draining all the strength out of oneself in a sudden instant. Like a sudden onset of feverish sickness that radiated stronger and stronger with every passing moment. Shiv cut off the flow of Vitae as soon as Adam's eyes snapped open.
He looked down just in time to see Shiv reel the streams back into himself. An aura of red and white commingled around Shiv before fading entirely. And while Rose twisted and screamed in her gurney, the Umbrals and Weaver's Biomancer stared at Shiv. As did Uva. Her jaw slightly gaped, her eyes wide.
"The hell are you guys looking at?" Shiv cried. "Help her!"
He waved at the Weaveress. She snapped to attention and immediately called out to the Umbrals. They started wheeling Rose into the building, down a length of bright, clean, reflective tiles and pristine walls. Shiv couldn't even feel that much bacteria in the air there, and he realized this was likely an infirmary that had just been set up. A proper one, rather than a large tent.
Adam stood near Shiv. He stumbled, and the Deathless caught him, but he didn't look at Shiv. No, his eyes were locked on the Weaveress, moving his mother away. He flinched every time she screamed.
He looked at Shiv and shook Shivâs shoulders with shaking hands. "What's wrong with her? What did you do? What did Sullain do? What happened?"
"I donâtâ" Shiv stopped. Then he immediately closed his eyes and sighed. "I didn't mean to do anything. When I pushed her out, I think she took the corrosionâmy soul wounds. She carried them out from me when she reformed. And now theyâre on her.â
Adam's eyes widened. He gripped Shiv tighter as he snarled. "What? Then why didnât you stop her?â
"I didn't know that would happen!" Shiv shot back. "I didn't know what I was doing. I was just trying to reform myself, and I felt her struggling inside me. She was trying to get out, and I let her. I promised I would help her!â
âYou gave her your wounds! How is that helping her?!â Adam cried. His voice was climbing to a hysterical height.
But then a strand of Psychomancy passed through Shiv and Adam. A wave of calm struck their consciousnesses, and they both took a step back, looking at each other as the tension inside them was choked down to a more muted level. âWe can argue about this later,â Uva said. âRight now, we need to figure out what's wrong with her.â
And just then, Valor descended behind her. He flew unevenly. Damage still lined his skull, but he seemed better than before. Good enough to travel under his own power, at least.
"Shiv," Valor called out. "Uva informed me of what happened. Where isâŚ" And Valor trailed off. He said nothing, but his eyes glowed bright with crackling flame. He analyzed Shiv once more, and a deep frown settled on his ghostly features. "Shiv⌠What has happened to you? I sense⌠Why do I sense such repulsion from you? Repulsion against my Necromancy.â
"I got a Skill Evolution for Revenant," Shiv explained. He held out a hand, and he let a small, swirling stream of Vitae dance upon his palm. And then he pulled it back into himself. "I can move my own Vitae now, I think."
Valor just stared at him. A piercing howl from Rose that echoed out of the building broke the moment. Can Hu also arrived, descending on a column of stone.
As the gathered group hurried across the halls of the infirmary a moment later, Adam and Shiv were trailed by an Umbral in a white uniform. âWait!â she called. âYou need to be sterilized. She's badly wounded. We canât risk her being infected.â
"The infectionâit's not a physical wound," Shiv cried out. "It's a soul wound."
"Even so, her physical condition might still make her vulnerable to infection. We don't know what you might have brought in on you from the outside. Just hold still for a moment!"
The group ground to a halt, and the Umbral waved her hand. A crimson spell formed over it. Shiv felt parts of the bacteria clinging to him, small particulates of life, burst apart. Adam was cleansed as well, and then they rushed past the Umbral, blurring across room after room until they finally caught up to the Weaveress and her aides.
They were applying whatever healing they could, and Biomancy splashed over Rose Van Erren. It did nothing. Her flesh refused to heal. Her muscles refused to mend. Shiv could see her body trying to respond, trying to re-knit itself, sinew by sinew. But as soon as they touched, they separated again.
It was like her soul had a memory, a memory of being wounded, and with the damage layered upon her vitality itself, she couldn't exist in any other way.
She remained nude, with no time to pay attention to modesty when most of her body was practically consumed by corrosive burns. She was a nightmare of misshapen flesh, and Shiv could feel the burns run even deeper inside her. Her organs were also withered, one of her lungs, her kidney, her bones, and even her heart. Shiv hadn't realized how badly the Necromancy wounded him earlier, and now she inherited those wounds. He suspected Rose wasn't a Pathbearer that specialized in Toughness.
He felt her heart twitch and spasmâand it was beating more because the Weaveress was forcing it to pump rather than from its own power. Shiv hadnât even realized her heart was failing when he carried her.
She let out a gasp. Adam stood right beside her, and his eyes darted about. He looked at Shiv, Uva, and Valor before rushing over to his mother. He looked like a boy caught in a nightmare. And he reached out to take her hand. Rose arched her back and screamed. Adam winced, and the expression on his face was heartbreaking. To have his mother returned, but to be given unto him in such a stateâ
Shiv declared to himself.
Uva tried to calm Adam through her, but he was in a maelstrom of emotional turmoil. Some of that turmoil was bleeding over into Shiv as well.
"Valor," Shiv said, "I think I might be able to take the wounds from her somehow." He channeled a stream of Vitae again. It immediately started fading the moment it got to open air, the moment it slipped beyond his mana field.
"Uva," Valor said, "connect me to Shiv. Make it a straight connectionâenforced calm." And she did. Another Psychomancy strand passed through the Legendary Pathbearer and ended within Shiv's mind. Immediately, Shiv felt Valor's focus, his intensity, but also that unerring calmness enforced upon them.
Shiv said.
A pulse of uncertainty came from Valor, but the Legendary Pathbearer pushed through it.