(I) Predators

-Interview with Adept-Artillerist Lee Halley 141 (I)

Predators

Uva's new armor was more akin to a crustacean's carapace than it was separate pieces of plating assembled together. To say that it was not optimized for direct and physical combat was an understatement.

There was a lack of flexibility in the joints that would have disqualified it from use for any warrior or similar. The arcanite was harder than focus crystal by far, but still, that did little to solve the direct force issue posed by blunt weapons or concussive attacks. That being said, it was apparently transparent from the inside, like wearing a barrier of glass. From the outside, Shiv could only see his own reflection.

For anyone other than Uva, entering the armor would have been a chore. It unlatched from the back, forcing the wearer to squeeze through a narrow set of flaps. Uva had no issue squeezing. Frankly, she had no issue sliding in and out of the armor at all. She didn't even need to open the flaps.

She simply undid one buckle, and the rest of her body flattened, sliding in like an undulating wave splashing through a crevice. Both Shiv and Adam looked on, speechless, as the Umbral transformed her physique. It was only after they watched her feet slide in, flattening to accommodate the tightness, that Adam finally broke from his stupor.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to your Physicality Skill Evolution."

"I suspect I won't either," Uva replied, her words muffled from inside the armor. It took a while for her to properly right herself. The armor bounced from side to side, and Shiv helped keep it still. It was only when her limbs started moving again that he backed away. “It feels strange being able to move in odd dimensions. I have a hard time not folding myself in half when I walk at times.”

Just then, the prismatic substance that comprised her armor flashed with a growing brilliance. Arcanite was a mana conductor, as was Focus Crystal, and from her head emerged a nest of mana strands. Previously, she was like the center of a spiderweb. Now, Shiv would more liken her to the heart of a literal jungle.

It wasn't just that she had more strands; rather, some of them forked, growing new branches of mana that multiplied on as well. But as he studied her in an amplified mana field, he noted that some strands seemed fainter than the others. Her translucent mana strands had always been harder to notice, but they still glowed, still had a presence in the world. There were a few strands that were fainter than all the others, and when Shiv projected his own Psychomancy through them, they dissolved, causing him to step back in surprise.

"Illusory mana," Uva muttered with curiosity. She directed one of her other strings to feel at those faint pseudo-strands. Her strings passed through as well, disrupting them as if she was pushing her hand through a veil of swirling mist. After a few moments, however, they reformed, and she stared at those illusory strands. She could even compel them to move in certain directions. "The wearer of this armor valued discretion," Uva hummed, "but I suspect they had their own Magical Resistance skill as well. Or avoided combat entirely.”

Shiv thought back to her armor's list of enchantments, and he realized she was right. It didn't have Magical Resistance. It seemed entirely focused on keeping her hidden.

"It's bloody hard to keep my eyes on you," Adam said. His eyes were burning brightly, struggling as he looked at Uva. His head shook as if it was at war with with his neck, trying not to turn. "I daresay this armor would be more useful for a thief than a mage."

"Or a mage," Uva said, building on Adam's guess. "But even so, I suspect the wearer was also focused on countering other magi."

"Why do you think that?" Shiv asked.

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"Because the false mana field, or at least the illusory mana field, I should say... It is not exactly false. It is still drawing from my Psychomancy, but only a paltry amount I can't exactly control. The illusory strands... They do move, conversely, to a few actual strands I have. They're more like mirror images than anything else."

Shiv imagined Uva facing a rival Psychomancer now. He didn’t see that ending well for them. "Yeah," he said, smirking slightly at the dense nest of translucence veiling Uva. "I don't think I'd like to get into a mind battle with you, even if I was a Heroic-Tier Psychomancer."

"Not over long distance, perhaps, but close, force to force..." Uva hesitated. "I would avoid a direct competition of magical might against one of the orc Psychomancers still. The armor has amplified me, but my Heroic Skill remains what it is: a skill of distance, subtlety, and dexterity. Not much of a weapon of mental destruction. As for the other enchantments…”

She looked at her hand for a moment, and her body flashed. A second later, she began to fade from view.

As she disappeared, Shiv expanded his mana hydras and found her in a near instant. She was right where she stood, though if he was using his eyes, he wouldn't be capable of perceiving her at all. Between the Invisibility and Awareness Warding enchantments, she was as hard to detect as any with a Master-Tier Stealth Skill. Shiv thought to himself,

"I can still hear a heartbeat," Adam replied, "but I keep losing track of my thoughts after." He held out a hand and made a gesture at her. A moment thereafter, he nodded. "Well, it's not entirely immune to tracking."

"Elaborate?" Uva asked. She reappeared in an instant, her invisibility dispelled.

"I mean, my Divination still works on you. Which is unsurprising. There are few things Divination does not work on, considering it taps into the narrative of all things."

Valor popped his head out of Shiv's cape and stared at Adam and Uva. "Ah. We are still here? I expected us to cross over to the Tutorial already to begin field tests.”

"In a moment, Valor," Adam said. "We're busy gawking at Uva's Mage-Thief armor. And I'm trying to figure out how I could counter this thing."

"It is not wise to state your suspicious intentions so openly, Gate Lord," Uva said with a low laugh. "Do you not trust me? Are you still worried I might reach into your mind and do something terrible to you.”

"Oh, I do trust you, Sister," Adam replied, letting out a light breath. "However, in case we run into someone like you, or with a similar skill..." Adam didn't finish that sentence. He let it stand and allowed Uva to come to her own conclusions.

She acknowledged his point with a nod. "Understandable. But perhaps you might gain more insight once we give this armor a field test.” Shiv could feel a slight grin spread across Uva’s face. "Let’s see how long it will take the orcs to notice and react to me.”

Uva was invisible when she crossed over into the Tutorial. Shiv and Adam remained connected to her, aware of where she was. But the orcs were given no forewarning at all. Instead, the only hint of her presence was the massive, sprawling ocean of threads that extended from her.

Most of the orc army failed to react. But a few of the orc Psychomancers responded immediately. Their heads turned from where they rested around the campfires. They looked up and shifted their own fields to intercept Uva’s strands, but they did so more out of curiosity than malice. As their fields shuddered, the strings they tried to interface with dissolved, and Shiv saw a collective expression of surprise play across their faces.

What they didn't notice were a few other strands weaving patterns over their heads. Spells formed within those patterns, and they remained there, hovering over campfires, trembling with slowly building concentrations of mana as they crystallized into shape. They remained there, without affecting any of the orcs or the environment on an obvious level.

"So that's the Lagged Spell enchantment," Uva said.

"What's it do?" Shiv asked.

"It allows a spell to be cast ahead of time. It simply condenses itself slowly, but the action is already done."

"So it's like leaving a mine?" Adam asked.

Shiv frowned. “A mine?”

“A bomb triggered by delay or proximity,” Adam explained.

"Sort of," Uva replied. "A delayed spell, to some extent. However, it is still tied to me. I think that is connected to the other enchantment I have, spell priming." And as Uva twitched one of her strands, the spell went off. It burst in a large cone, spreading across the orc encampments, and they all turned their heads upward as a telepathic statement washed down over them.

And that was all she said. The orc Psychomancers were actively darting around now, rushing through the camp as they tried to follow the fading telepathic spell. Several had convened together, and they observed her mana strings, watching with curiosity and interest. She didn't like the predatory gleam in their eyes, however.

"I think maybe this is good enough." But she ignored him just then and continued shaping a dozen new spells. A chain of Psychomancy spells formed across the expanse. Each of them resonated, and they seemed to pulse in sequence. After a few moments, each of them detonated as well, but they spread wide this time, splashing out as a wave rather than a cone.

Each of the telepathic broadcasts sounded almost too close together. They arrived as if a jumbled mess, and Shiv frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Just something to get the orc Psychomancers paranoid. Let them try to decipher my mental rubbish," Uva replied with a dry chuckle. True to her word, even more orcs were reacting, trying to figure out the mystery behind the strange mana strands.

But though the benefits her armor offered were good, they weren't perfect.

"There," Adam said, pointing. Shiv and Uva both turned. It took a moment for them to spot what Adam was looking at, and he had to highlight it using his own divination for them to finally notice. They stared through his eyes and passively experienced his Seer of Horizons.

His awareness arrived just before a tall orc that had a shard embedded at the top of his head. A shard that gleamed violet, lighting a brutally scarred face and casting shadows on lips spread wide in a grand and wicked smile.

"I see you, and you see me!" The orc giggled madly. Adam reeled his senses back and shook his head.

"Well," he said, sounding slightly unnerved about that encounter, "I believe we just ran into one of the orcs' Diviners. I suspect his Awareness might be Heroic-Tier as well."

"Why is that?" Uva asked.

"Because I think he's looking directly at you instead of me." Adam frowned. “It's most definitely well into the Heroic level threshold.”

“Feeling inadequate?” Shiv asked.

“That’s less important than understanding what my enemy is capable of,” Adam said, his expression serious. “I would rather seethe at a superior foe and live, rather than hide in my arrogance and lose.”

The Deathless just stared at Adam. “You know, Adam, sometimes you’re pretty cool.”

The Gate Lord froze. He twisted his head to look at Shiv and squinted. “Do you actually think that?”

“Yeah. Like just now. I like that.”

Adam nodded, and he slowly smiled. “I pretty cool.”