Steel and Mana

As we continued our march, a day after merging with the Khulman troops, I went to visit Merlin and check on the progress of his upgrades.

His main lab within the Camelot's belly was now much cleaner than before, although there was still one of the frozen carcasses there, cleaned to the bone, only leaving behind its pelt and its skeleton. Well... not exactly, as the rest of his tables were crowded with half-dismantled organs floating in glass, reinforcing the mad-scientist feeling... Especially thanks to a rack of CC, with some of its contents being grafted onto the bone or into the organs bubbling around in the jars... whatever he was trying to do, it was now more like playing the role of Doctor Frankenstein... Perhaps he will start yelling, 'He is alive,' the moment a thunderstorm strikes... Should I be worried?

As far as I could tell, I maybe should... But somehow, I wasn't concerned, not even if he was playing around with the CC fusing spell, trying to reverse the evolution of the beasts and uncover how they start developing their cores. I noticed multiple of those mergers, being at different states, embedded into the bone... or the heart of the dead beast.

"Any updates? I asked after closing the door behind me. Still, Merlin didn't look up at first; he just yanked his goggles to his forehead, leaving a raccoon mask on a face, finishing studying the skull of one of the big cats.

"You picked a good morning to visit me," he said, sounding pretty pleased, "I have two things ready for you: One terrifying, one merely upsetting."

"Not the things I wanted to hear... Eh, let's start with upsetting one..." I leaned against a bulkhead, folding my arms. "I like to ease into terror before lunch. What is it? Don't hold back!"

"Well," He stuck a thumb over his shoulder at the circular plate with four CC embedded into it. "The stronger ping system for the airships is done and functional. I have calibrated them to play nice with our current systems, so we just need to replicate my dish attachment and place it on the bulk of the ships. It is capable of a directed, broadband sweep through the magical spectrum, and then we can match-filter the returns. It is similar to how the Imaginary works, but more direct... But... Well... We trade subtlety for a gut-punch. Whatever we notice, they will notice us as well, no other way around it."

"Any other drawbacks?"

"Interference. Big interference... It rattles our normal scanning magic, scattering it as the ping's waves snuff out anything that is weaker than it... So the two can't be used at the same time; it is one or the other. Meaning: When we use it to find hiding monsters, we will go blind for the time being."

"So basically, it is like tunnel vision." I nodded, "Better than nothing, so we'll test it in a moment after its installation. This wasn't even that bad! Now... what is the terrifying part?"

"The monsters," Merlin clapped his hands once, spreading them over the skeletal fragments on his desk, "I think they are evolving."

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my brows, coming closer, and looked at it, but nothing came to mind. It looked the same, bones, with already forming runes on it. Not yet completed, given their smaller size, but it was there...

"I compared notes with my old self, the knowledge in my mind library, and even the Codex... The beasts were not like this in my old life. They have evolved, and this camouflage trick? It is certainly something new."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty much." He nodded, and he looked as serious as possible, "I can't tell you how recent it is, though... But I don't like the idea of allowing them to keep evolving, especially on our side of the world."

"Agreed... Specifically, if we hypothesize that their evolution is a rapid one. We have already given them a few decades to do so..."

"Yeah." He nodded, going back to smiling, "But that led me down to a new experiment on how they evolve," he pointed at his drawings and the floating organs, "I can finally understand why the Vasas were fascinated by them and tried to mimic their ways."

"I'm all ears!" I shrugged, letting him explain it.

"Their blood is magically filtered, meaning it is saturated with magic we, as mages, can also use. Why is that? Because of the runes on their bones. It links up with their marrow and how they produce their own blood. Then it becomes a self-strengthening cycle. The older the beast gets, the more prominent the runes will be on its bones, the stronger the magic in its blood, so on and so on. Not to mention, if it eats its own kind. The same effect applies to them as to us. Just look at our soldiers and their diet."

"I understand," I nodded, examining the floating organs, "And they are like that from birth?" I asked, making him nod.

"Pretty much. I can't tell you when that change happened, but it is how they are. Then, when the magic in their blood becomes strong enough, it begins to coalesce into their core... However, when that occurs, it can no longer grow solely from the blood and flesh. Frankly speaking, it is not enough... By then, they had passed a threshold, and their new core needs more magic to keep evolving. Exponentially so... Their only option is to begin to hunt and eat other cores instead of just their flesh and bones."

"That's why they get stupid? Their hunger for magic?" I asked, not really him, just in general.

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"Maybe." He shrugged, "I can't tell you the reason... maybe their mind is also affected by the change. Nevertheless, it is a possibility, because, according to my studies, magic transforms them without applying limits, which is why they are so different and can grow to such a large size. They retain most of their basic form, yes, but the more they eat, the more unique they become, absorbing the killed and defeated monsters' cores and some of their fundamental traits. At least... that is my current theory."

"I can see it being true," I nodded my head, "So... the Vasas did what exactly...?"

"Ah, yes, yes. They most likely introduced order into this change, and they tried to make it controlled. Predictable and guideable." He explained, "Mind you, this is only my theory and conjecture, but it is supported by what the... Rosa? Rachel? Rahtil? No matter... It is supported by what that Vasa had told you. They most likely modified their own bones and blood, either simultaneously or over generations, through selective breeding. Maybe both... infusing themselves with magic and runes based on the monsters, thereby becoming a kind of hybrid being. Do they have cores, though? I can't tell... They could! Or they came up with something else, because they don't look like they are lost to this hunger. I'd need to dissect one to be sure of it..."

"Okay, slow down there, Heinrich..."

"Who?"

"Nothing." I waved a hand, "It doesn't matter what the Vasa became, we are not copying them. Look where that got them! Whatever they did, it was a failed experiment, a genetic cul-de-sac."

"Because they probably screwed up somewhere..." He murmured, but in the end dropped the topic... for now. I could tell. He was way too interested in it...

"Okay." I continued, not letting him linger on the topic, "Next... How's the modification to the main gun you mentioned?"

"Ah, yes!" He nodded, looking for his notes, "I can tune the beam to force cores toward merger resonance or pull them out of it... We will need to test it on actual monsters to be sure, but in theory, we can now use it in that way.

"Hm..." I kept my face still, "Did we lose any strength to the weapon? To its power or range?"

"No, nothing of the sort." He shook his head, "Not on paper at least... Well... It is untested. And it can still react differently on a live specimen."

"So... We can still make them explode..."

"It is a possibility," he nodded softly, "It remains a last resort only. It's not a scalpel-type weapon but an 'end-it-all-and-now' weapon. A... panic button?"

"We will make sure to test it, but... Only when we can do it safely," I said. "And if we ever use it, we clear our own mechs well outside the cone and make sure the wind blows away from us if it results in a big dust of CC."

"I know," Merlin nodded, some of the giddiness slipping from his face, "I figured you'd say that... So don't worry, I won't pester you about it!"

"I doubt that," I drew a breath, smiling, making him pout a little, "Alright, alright! What about our camouflage upgrades?"

"It is coming along nicely!" He brightened again as he crossed to a tray where translucent flitches of cartilage were laid out like panes of stained glass, being engraved and decorated. "It was a nightmare to work with it, like trying to draw on a so thin filament that the slightest pressure would tear or puncture it. Anyway, I am good, so I managed to finish my tests and reverse engineer... and upgrade it!"

"Meaning?"

"I came up with a pattern that acts as a formation. This pattern looks complicated, but it is simply... um... simple. It needs to be applied only once to the area you want to mask." He said, summoning a formation, and the moment he did, the samples had multiple tiny tiles on them that lit up in correspondence, forming a honeycomb pattern that constantly flashed, depending on where the formation's invisible waves hit it. "We just need to cover the room with this pattern where our cores are, and it won't be detectable for outside sources. Of course... if we push them to the maximum, it can bleed through, but by then, it shouldn't matter."

"Side effects?"

"Nothing that I am aware of. If we put these on the mechs, the pilots will have to tell me if there is any difference..."

"And what about our side? I mean, we will be blinded to their position if the Imaginary can't keep track of them."

"That's also solved by yours truly!" Merlin's grin went sly while he tapped on the sketch of a small sigil, like a hooked fish and a spiral, "I'm adding a keyed resonance to the pattern... Think of it as a whistle only our receivers can hear, because we have the frequency tuned directly to it; otherwise, it just bleeds into the background. Without knowing it's there, you won't catch it!"

"No wonder you were and are a genius..."

"Of course!" He grinned again, pulling himself up straight, ignoring the fact that he looked like an exhausted raccoon, probably working on this day and night without sleeping for days. "I'll paint a mech with it first. I thought of using Excalibur as a testbed. Galahad and Fila are perceptive enough to give me a proper report..."

"I agree," I nodded, patting his shoulders, "But before that, do have a bath, dinner, and a good night's sleep."

"Yeah... Sleep sounds nice!" He nodded, tilting his head, "Speaking of... What's up with those feelings you had? It was like you sensed the beasts. Is it the whispers of the dream stalker Vasa?"

"Heh," I chuckled while I considered pretending it was nothing, but it would be a stupid thing to do, "I am… certainly feeling things. Sometimes." I gestured vaguely at my chest, "It is a weird thing. It started when I first connected with Sasha, and since then, it sometimes flares up. But whenever I feel something, I can tell it is not mine."

"Hmm..." He hummed, staring at me, "It has to be your blood."

"I thought of the same thing."

"You are not pureblood Vasa, but still carry their modifications. If I know something, it's that theirs are 'built' to last. So some effects may begin to manifest... That's why you are catching the signals, be it when you first connected with Sasha or with Arthur. I bet it is the same thing with the beasts."

"Haaah..." I shrugged, "Well, it is my problem, and not as big as my son's issue. I can deal with this much!"

"Maybe you will also evolve?"

"I'm fine as it is." I said, telling him honestly, "You see... I am a lazy one."

"Sure..." He snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I am!" I argued, spreading my arms, "The moment this whole shtick with the monsters is over... I am stepping down."

"Wait... what?!" He trembled, his eyes going extra large while staring at me, his mouth hanging wide open.

"I mean, we plug the Third Pass, exterminate the monsters, all that jazz... And then, I will step down, put Arthur in the position of Sovereign, and I am doing what I want~!"

"..."

"What?"

"You will be bored, day one."

"Maybe." I chuckled, "But it is the best course of action. With that, my son will be bound to stay in Avalon, dealing with all the responsibilities... While I can check out these Vasa bastards..."

"Ah... I see..." He smiled, somewhat understanding, "Soooo... Which part of this is laziness?"

"The part where I am skipping town before everyone comes to me, begging to rebuild the newly cleaned part of the world... I only wanted a clean city where I can enjoy doing nothing... Yet everything just snowballed into... this."