NOVEL NEXT 65. Necromancy of a Sort
The now familiar sensation of travelling through a portal ended and I felt the impact of landing. The dark organic walls of Medea around me dispersed into black and green motes before reforming into the Elder Chrysalid once again. Before it reformed, I froze my perception to examine the motes that I hadn't had the time to do in the relative darkness of the outer forest. They were tiny and yet I could make out defined wings, shells, legs and more. Fat fleshy tendrils bulged out of the insectoids like hairs and I could see that those 'hairs' had been interfacing with each other and countless thin strands almost invisible even to my enhanced eyesight lingered within that cloud. Time resumed and I froze it again. The hairs and the strands had been growing, reaching out for each other like feelers before bringing them together by contracting and shortening. Time resumed and froze again. The chrysalids' shells bubbled when they touched before turning into just hairs and strands. It was like if it were heavy metal shavings in liquid that were breaking through the surface tension when a magnet came close. Time resumed for the final time and the strands coalesced. The small chrysalids compressed or bloated as they were brought together until the facsimile of organs resolved itself into the shape Medea now wore.
Home. And that meant some food and sleep. But first, I had to deal with the damn green light.
It was late now and I could see the world outside my closed windows glowing green. Pulling the blinds shut, I almost collapsed on the ground when my leg suddenly splintered under me. Regression returned with a vengeance the moment I let my mind lose its focus, far less severe than before but still very real. I was, however, also getting better at simply powering through it. My first Titan transformation had levelled up Hivemother's Superego enough that in two or three more transformations, I would be able to suppress it entirely.
Gritting my teeth, I tightened the bone armor around me and slowly reconstructed my limbs. Muscles wiggled and bone shards swam in it before finding their place. Bone stretched and twinged as it was forced back into the proper shape. It hurt, hurt a lot more than it should because I couldn't risk severing my nervous system again and accidentally letting worse regressions slip. I had to endure it and I did until eventually I could move the leg again.
Something butted against me and I turned to see a glass of water held in Medea's claws. How it managed that without crushing the glass or letting it slip was beyond me but I took it with a grateful look nonetheless.
'Mother, go to sleep now. This one would like to test its capabilities further if that's acceptable.' I nodded, trusting Medea to know the difference between a test and a pointless risk. Its skills didn't have the blood madness problem that mine did after all. Still, I turned to look at it to see if my newly evolved skill could tell me what else I could improve.
Rough chitin like black obsidian covered almost every inch of it, with what remained being a flexible membrane so dense it was armor in its own right demarcating segments. It was not like any life I'd known, even Vespia was less alien than Medea now. And that was a different problem. I doubted Vespia even held anything further for my growth that Medea didn't provide beyond the minor paralysis effect of the sounds of the wasps' wingbeats. I could have had Medea get that skill as well but it already had Paralysing Visage and I didn't want to also invest in simple debuffs for Medea when it could get something much better that better suited its role as a physical powerhouse. I had a lot of sensory disruption creatures from Runi and Ylbrig to feed to whatever supportive Swarm General I actually went with. I was not counting out even Selene just yet.
That was another reason I was avoiding tiering up Vespia or giving it skill crystals now. I didn't want her to gain sapience while just being an inferior Medea that would be replaced at the first opportunity like Selene had been. Worst case I could just have Medea's exact skill loadout copied but with a different element going on. A problem for future me. For now, Medea was my priority.
It was just all motes and strands instead of proteins and hydrocarbons of life as I knew it. Now that I was out in the forest and Fauna Archive had evolved, I saw ways in which I could further improve it. My idea for getting around the flight and size problem without needing strong skills or magics to brute-force past it was good but it wasn't enough, not yet. Instead of just hollow internal chambers, I could have, in addition, inflatable air sacs like that of frogs, with the loose hanging membrane lined with armor plates. I was concerned that they could be easily punctured but with Medea's mana regeneration, they would be practically impervious within days. The upside was that I could make the sacs as large as I wanted as long as I adjusted the limbs and their connecting muscles. And the tails for balance, of course. The downside was that uhh, I couldn't think of any. I touched Medea and I noticed how its own biomancy seemed eager to do the changes I wanted with me only needing to guide it. A patch of thick membrane, lined with interlocking pieces of armor formed below its maw and neck. Medea drew in a breath, several lungs working to suck in the air and then converting it into hydrogen through internal reactions. The sacs filled up, making Medea even more top heavy but also counteracting the balance problem because it was just more lighter than air gas. I smoothed over the new changes, extending armor plates so that they covered most of the sacs when they were inflated. Ultimately it just looked the same as before but slightly larger. Lifeform Comprehension levelled up again, seemingly happy with a good job. I would have sent that skill over too but it was a purely mental skill so there was no point in wasting a skill slot.
'Done.' Medea dipped its head in acknowledgement before shrinking and leaving.
I rested on the floor for another half an hour before I could eat some soup and then sleep took me.
When I next woke up, it was noon and Medea was back. It looked pleased, even though it hadn't grown yet because of its ongoing soul stabilization.
'Good hunt?' I asked, not even suppressing a yawn that escaped my mouth.
'Yes. This form… it is superior to this one's previous frame. Mother is good to this one.' I waved it off, not really sure how to respond.
As I cleaned myself up, I took over a dragonfly that was flying back to Fahria's place after all of my swarm was summoned back to my house. I had been confident that she could at least escape if the assassin attacked her now but why take a chance? She was not inside but judging by the sounds of combat coming from the ajar basement door interspersed with several "Magnificent, Lady Shakirn"s, I could guess she was sparring with someone. I would have flown closer if the heat hadn't melted the dragonfly's wings off right then. Using the last of its life, I flew over to a kitchen table and scribbled a tiny "Hi. Learn anything?" along with a stick figure with squiggly snakes circling it from salt. If I had Sketching, that had to have been worth a level.
Returning to myself, I finished all of my morning rituals before grabbing a few sedated rats. I kept them alive but began the delicate process of merging them into something new. The cranium chambers melted into a larger one that housed both brains like some conjoined twins and then the brains connected as four hemispheres met in the middle. The spinal cords became one with far too many limbs and flesh flowed like water. According to Mitria, I was supposed to be able to do this through just surgery and 'mundane' grafting type skills but even with biomancy, I had yet to successfully pull it off. Once I did I would have a basic idea of what I was aiming for but that was still a few days away.
I woke the creature and it jerked around like it was having a seizure. Then it passed out, foaming from an oversized mouth. Another failure but it could still be salvaged. I crushed its brain, transplanted another and merged the spines again. In addition, I merged the limbs too until I just had a small cat sized rat. It would do. Relatively harmless to me but also not so fragile as to immediately die. Note to self, I had to let the rats breed unless I wanted to run out. I let the rat rest while I tweaked with a spell to make something that I was sure would work. And sure enough, in only a bit over an earth hour, I had it ready.
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"Filthfly Bolt" I muttered and my latest spell formed before me. It was basically the same structure that Mana Bolt and Blood Bolt used, just surrounded by a spiralling layer of a different spell structure so complicated it was nothing but white to my senses. Only because of Blessing of the Flies could I manipulate the structure I had ripped open from Cloud of Filth without understanding it. Of course, even then it worked because I was making such a basic modification and I had lost a lot of power still. The result? A single target projectile version of Cloud of Filth that concentrated as much of the vastly diminished effect as possible and delivered it to the target.
The grey spell flew and impacted with the mutated giant rat. Dazed from the impact, it shook its head and then shrieked in alarm as the spell dissipated into a small swarm of flies. It didn't even throw up or anything but I could see the flies had disoriented it. As I said, I had sacrificed a lot of power when forging it. Only 50 mana per cast was evidence enough. At the same time, it was the first directly offensive spell in the entire grimoire, mediocre it may be, and that meant I could boost it. Even then, I was probably better off just learning to use the weird bulky guns used in New Delport instead for ranged offense. Or better yet, some kind of biomantic creature like the flyers Medea had.
Speaking of whom, Medea was trying to eat one of the flies hovering around the rat while it cowered in terror.
'Fascinating. These flies aren't actually real. They just break down into mana the moment this one tries to assimilate them.' It noted. I was afraid of that. No way to steal their debuffing effects for Vespia then. Yet.
I sighed and killed the rat with a surgical application of biomancy to the brain, its Self-Sanctity too low to resist for more than half a second.
"Reanimate Husk", I said and a small cloud of flies, barely larger than my head emerged from my hand and flew towards the rat. The flies flew to the rodent's corpse and began to burrow into it. Its skin shifted and bulged as if maggots were crawling underneath it and it opened its yellowed eyes, now glassy and with something jelly-like and pale dancing just besides the eyeball. It shakily rose to its feet and then stood still.
"Jump." I commanded and it jumped an awkward little jump and stumbled while landing. I hoped I would be getting better performance for something I hadn't lobotomized so thoroughly and had muscle memories actually matching its dimensions. Another thing I could tell from just looking was that it was bloating up. At some point, the maggots reanimating it would devour it entirely, leaving nothing behind to reanimate. These zombies were only temporary.
I tested the zombie some more until someone knocked on my door. A fly on a wall told me it was Fahria. Still, I had Medea devour the zombie. Once again, the flies and the maggots just ceased to be before Medea could grab them. Quiraion knew what druids were treated as in a city and what unlocking one even implied so close to the forests.
I opened the door and Fahria strode in, expression thunderous in a way that I've rarely, if ever, seen. She was not the type to wear her emotions on her sleeves. In all fairness, neither was I. The other thing that was different was that she had grown a couple of inches more and now wore a heavy dark brown coat with broad angular shoulders that almost reached her feet.
"Fisjoui?" She grunted before leaning against a wall. I went to my woefully small kitchen to brew some. Medea had biomancied itself the vocal cords I had used when dealing with the vampires again and by the time I had two mugs ready, Fahria was in an animated conversation with it about its new body.
"So, what's going on?" I asked, handing her a mug. She slumped and straightened again before she could fall. When she spoke again, it was with the same edge that I was used to.
"My family, not the clan but my branch of it, has sent me another retainer." She spoke like the words she uttered had personally offended her and for all I knew, they might have. Phoenix's pride bullshit was always a pain. I wouldn't care if someone sent me help, as long as it was help and not a handler. That was probably the actual reason now that I thought about it.
"How did they get through the lockdown?" Medea asked, somehow that piece of information had slipped by it. I answered it.
"You can get a proper screening for possession done if you have enough money and time to waste." That was the reason why the guests who had come here for Renewal Day could even leave. It was impossible from a simple time and mana consumption point to look through the whole city.
"The clan has enough of both for getting him in." Fahria added.
"You think he's spying on you for one of the other candidates?" I asked, thinking that was the most likely explanation. Fahria snorted.
"No. Not that. He's loyal. And he's an excellent trainer to boot. The problem is that he doesn't have what it takes to be useful." I didn't say anything, waiting for her to continue. Handler sounded a lot likelier than before.
"I made a rather grave mistake earlier. You remember when I mentioned Terris?" I nodded. That was Fahria's servant slash bodyguard who had died protecting her from a high tier monster. "I lied. He was killed because of my mistake."
"Interesting." It was Medea who spoke again. "How does this relate to this new retainer's problems?"
"You see, after we first met, I had laid a trap for one of the other candidates. It would have, should have killed one of them before the Crucible even began. Thin out the herd. That was against the rules of the Phoenix Crucible and he was executed as a result, leaving me without an asset."
"Was that your mistake? The trap?"
"No." She looked up, eyes glittering with red fire reflecting on glass. Her voice was frigid. "My mistake was that I didn't cover my tracks well enough and squandered the opportunity to get rid of a rival while getting a friend killed. I won't repeat it." I hummed in agreement. I, too, knew a bit about getting people accidentally killed because of my own shortsightedness.
"It was against the rules but as you saw with the assassin, it is only a problem if you get caught. In any case, this retainer is not mine. It is my family's and getting him through the clan proved… problematic." I raised an eyebrow.
"Problematic. How?"
"It is simple. They bound him in oaths and vows that are technically all just rules of the Crucible to ensure a fair competition. The problem is with the strategic ambiguity used in them. They make him incapable of doing anything other than training me. He will find himself restricting my own actions unless I hide them. He will also get himself killed the moment he actually fights someone." It made sense. Cognitimantic bindings relied on the personal interpretation of the oath taker. No clever wordplay and loopholes. That was the reason the Khagran priests still endured while enslaving their entire population.
"That's—" Fahria laughed.
"Yes. I know. He knows as well. Enough about me. Tell me what's up with Medea."
By the time I was done explaining whatever I was comfortable sharing, Fahria looked thoughtful. Like she was thinking about what she would personally improve.
"I don't know why you don't just have that skill copied over to yourself now that you aren't regressing so much." Fahria asked, frowning.
It was complicated. If I got that skill, it would be a permanent fixture of my status. Not even Mitria could remove it without killing me. It would be a permanent renunciation of my humanity. And that was not counting that it had skills like Chimerism and Ossific Communion in it that would be merged immediately while losing features that I liked or relied upon. Medea could only biomance things it had converted into motes and could only see the memories of things it ate. Both were far less versatile than my own capabilities and as usual, I reminded myself that I was not supposed to be the one leading the charge in any battle.
"I see. Well, I trust you to know what's a preferable loadout for you. Tell me, can I have another mug?" I shrugged and directed her to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, she asked the question I was afraid of.
"Have you heard from Agitjin recently? It appears almost as if he's disappeared."
I shook my head, stomach sinking. I couldn't tell her that he had moved to a different part of the city and had severed all ways for me to reach him. I couldn't tell her the truth. Fahria's eyes narrowed.
"I see… I was afraid so. I think he might have fallen victim to the assassin or even betrayed me for another Crucible candidate." The way she spoke it made it very clear what would happen if she happened to run into him again. And with her recent absorption of the elemental, I didn't doubt that she could deliver on the threat she imagined. I could not let that happen. That would be entirely my fault if I didn't stop it right now.
"He's not betrayed you." I spoke a bit too quickly.
"Are you certain?" The temperature rose a bit and I could see Medea tensing up.
"Yes. Look, I can't tell you how I know but he's alright and he's not sold you out. Just… just trust me on this, please?" The heat declined a smidge but it was still higher than it had been before as Fahria examined me. I would say it was my face she was looking at but I was partially armored. Still, her expression softened after a moment and the heat fell again.
"Very well. I will trust you on this. It's been nice to be away from Juntern for a bit but I'll have to go now. Take care." She walked to the door and turned back to me for a moment, the heavy coat's bottom fabric swinging with the motion. She looked at my armored form, hesitated before speaking. "And once again, thank you for your help with the assassin. And I'm so sorry for what it cost you."
She left.