Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

If Lucian's eyes could have stretched even wider, they most certainly would. A door slid open with a mechanical sound, letting out a soft red light into the pyramid. Javier jumped in, disregarding the flashing words above the entryway: W.O.R.M.

"You know, until recently, the W.O.R.M. was something completely out of reach, almost a myth," commented the Prince as he carefully stepped in. Liara and Milena exchanged a glance and shook their heads, amazed.

"A massive, burying worm that swallowed camps and oases alike... Stories said it was long and large enough to rise above the Dark Wall—back when the mountains were still there, of course." Lucian was amazed. They were in some sort of airlock, with light coming from walls striated by red veins. Javier's dark eyes looked at the ceiling, and he muttered something inaudible. The door closed behind them, and another opened, leading into a large control room.

Liara and Milena gasped softly. It was the place where they found the Heart of Darkness controlling the machine, and where Glenn, Sahro, and Decimius, a powerful orc, fought the man who possessed the last piece of Diamanes, the Devil's Eye. And it was also there that Javier betrayed them.

"How is this possible?" Milena asked, slowly realizing. "I... I watched Exan destroy the W.O.R.M. with my own eyes! There should be nothing left!"

Javier shrugged and quickly wrote a reply on a piece of paper. "This machine is more resilient than it looks. A small part detached from the main body during the fight, and we're currently in it. Using the black sand of the Ink Dunes, the W.O.R.M. can grow itself back up. It took a long time to get something worth using."

"Incredible..." muttered Liara. "As long as one piece is left, this thing can reconstruct itself infinitely."

The Pale Hunter nodded. "It's a powerful war construct, from the Age of the Gods. It is older than Munirp itself." He turned to Liara and paused. "...I believe your ancestors have built it."

Liara's eyebrows rose. "We had this sort of technology in the past? What sort of people were my ancestors?"

Milena frowned as she took some time to observe the W.O.R.M.'s interior. "How did they build such a thing in a desert? There's nothing but black sand here..."

Liara stopped before some sort of large black casket, fit for one person. Javier walked past her and entered the casket, a door closing up on him. With a deep growling sound, more red veins came alive on the walls, powering up the structure. A part of the wall became transparent, letting them see the exterior. The machine lit up with red lamps, illuminating a dark tunnel large enough to fit a few houses next to each other.

Smooth, modern-looking chairs suddenly surged from the ground near them, inviting the group to take a seat. Lucian brushed off the chair's armrest with theatrical care before sitting, unperturbed in the slightest. Milena and Liara soon took their places as well. Belts of stone popped out of the ground and wrapped around their waists, keeping them safe.

"Oh-ho. Your friend sure has some strange tastes," remarked Lucian as he made himself comfortable. Milena glared at him while Liara blushed slightly. The W.O.R.M. trembled slightly and advanced, moving through the dark tunnel. Black sandstone crumbled off the tunnel's walls, dust falling with the movements of the massive machine.

"We are headed to the first objective, a smaller factory isolated from the rest of the flying islands." An emotionless voice broadcasted all around them, echoing through the room. Before the group could express their surprise, the voice spoke again. "This is me, Javier. I'm using a text-to-speech option to speak to you."

"Text to speech?" Milena repeated, confused. "What?"

Lucian whistled in awe. "I would love to hear Glenn's opinion on this machine. How can it dare confuse me? I simply can't understand."

Instead of her two shocked friends, Liara had another question. "Glenn's sister, Lina. She was in the same casket as you, but she had no idea how to control the W.O.R.M.. How can you?"

Javier took a few seconds to reply. "Back then, the control of the W.O.R.M. was under the Heart of Darkness. Now... with the help of the Moons, I figured out how to work it out."

"I also want to speak to the Moons if they can teach something like this," muttered Milena dejectedly. They watched with mild disbelief as the dark, black sandstone tunnel gave way to plain black sand. Before, there was basically nothing to look at; now it was even worse. That was until the W.O.R.M. cracked up to the surface. Liara blocked the sunlight with her face, squinting. When she reopened her eyes, the large window was overlooking the Ink Dunes. It was breathtaking and quite astounding to see such a sight while seated.

The W.O.R.M. fell back straight into the dunes, burying itself and continuing its way. This W.O.R.M. moved up and down, travelling through the sand until they eventually discovered an island nestled into the desert, much in the same manner as the first island they found.

'Oh, it's the same island,' Liara realized.

The Orcs, as tiny as ants from Liara's point of view, were already aware of their presence. It was probably hard not to, when their vehicle was a massive stone worm jumping up and down the dunes.

"This should be enough to draw the attention of the Newborn Ruler guarding this place. Good luck freeing Decimius," declared Javier as their stone belts disappeared and the ground opened up beneath them. Lucian, Liara, and Milena barely had the time to complain that they were dropped right onto the Orcs' island, the W.O.R.M. passing over their head.

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Wings of pure white energy spanned out of Liara's back and held her up in the air, the others using their own spells to imitate her.

"Well, at least some things haven't changed about him," Milena complained. "He still does whatever he wants, doesn't he?"

Lucian chuckled. "A very interesting man, this Javier! I like him, even if he dared confuse me. Wait, now that I think about it, everyone around Glenn makes me confused..."

Liara ignored the two of them and drew her weapons. Sword in one hand, spear in the other, she dove down the island. Like the first one they found, ballistas were on every side of it, and like before, they were shooting Aura-powered projectiles. Instead of wasting time and energy blocking them, Liara swirled and dodged each attack, carefully flying through the arrows.

She didn't look back to see what Milena and Lucian were up to, but she knew they were right behind her. With a short breath and a little bit of Mana, she sent herself right into the enemy lines, where she was welcomed by a few dozen Grand Chevaliers jumping her with Aura-covered blades. One step to the left, a lean to the right... Her long white hair floated slightly for a short instant. Every attack missed her narrowly.

A glint of metal flashed out of her hands, and multiple Orcs were separated from their heads. Blood splurged out on the black sand as the Orcs scrambled to try and get a hit on her, to no effect. One of them hacked at her legs, trying to tie her down, but she simply jumped above them and sent a pillar of light crashing against the rest. The Orcs were melted into puddles of flesh and blood, their Aura too weak to resist her powerful light-based spells.

She looked left and right, noticing Lucian fighting an Orc mage who was throwing lightning bolts. Massive swords were conjured and destroyed into the sky, the two fighting an arduous battle. On the other side of the fight, a group of Orcs had broken off the rest and were slaughtering their kin. Milena deftly used her magic to control the Orcs and turn them back against their friends, causing mass casualties and confusion.

'Now is the perfect time to look for that Orc,' Liara thought. She pushed her attackers back, standing on ravaged corpses.

"Shriek!"

The Black Heiress glanced up, a smile drawing up on her lips. She jumped and grabbed Whitey's claws, pulling herself up on his back. The griffin shrieked bloodthirstily, diving past Orcs and ripping them to pieces. With the immediate threat taken care of, Liara could focus on the rest of the island.

It was covered in relatively crude wooden structures, built with shoddy craftsmanship. Barracks, she surmised from the quantity of Orcs pouring out of them. She ignored them and dove deeper into the island, heading for its center.

'If I were a powerful Orc prisoner, where would I be?'

That question was quickly answered when she found a large circular structure enchanted with powerful defenses to keep something inside it, instead of stopping people from entering it. She could feel the strength of a powerful entity in there, weakened, but powerful nonetheless. And familiar, too.

Liara guided Whitey to the structure, rapidly realizing that it was some sort of arena. She stood upon her griffin's back, aiming her spear at a specific spot in the arena. She could see many of the enchantments were tied into that spot, so if she just destroyed it...

Fwoosh!

The spear shot out in a powerful ray of light, obliterating the inconspicuous, enchanted wall. Whatever was powering the spells died out, but the powerful entity contained within the arena didn't move.

Liara frowned and jumped off Whitey, charging her sword with Mana. She slammed down with all her might, destroying the arena's ceiling and breaking in. She landed in a mass of bloodied sand, amidst traces of previous combats: shattered blades, bones planted in the ground, and burnt clothing.

The arena was lined up with stands, all empty of spectators. Half a dozen steel chains as large as a man's torso were connected to large poles, all leading to a figure sitting at the arena's center. An orc, bloodied and tattered. One of his arms was limp, and he had a missing eye. His fangs were cut in half, and he also had a busted knee.

If it wasn't for the Aura she detected from him and his chest moving with each breath he took, she would have thought him dead. She recalled the name of the Orc they were supposed to rescue and add to their team. 'I wonder if this is a really good idea,' she thought. They had been a little too hurried to follow Javier and whatever shiny ideas he had when she thought back to it. But then, when he'd explained it, it made so much sense to just accept it...

She shook her head and approached the sitting Orc. She was already there now: there was no point in having regrets. Maybe Decimius would turn against them, maybe he'd become their friend. Who knew? 'Glenn was friendly enough with him, why couldn't it work?'

With that in mind, she kneeled before him and grabbed his shoulder. The Orc flinched and opened his good eye, confused. He was exhausted.

"Decimius?" Liara asked.

The Orc's eyes lit up and he balled up his fist, a weak, golden Aura fizzling up. Liara grimaced and stepped back, her unarmed hands raised in a placating manner. "I'm friendly, I just want to help."

Decimius looked her up and down and scoffed. "Help?"

He coughed, his voice coarse and rough. "I not need you help," he declared in broken Common Tongue.

Liara's eyebrows rose, and she glared at his wounds and chains. "Fine, then. Don't think I am helping you, then."

Her sword flashed out and collided with the chains, only to bounce out harmlessly. She frowned and threw a sharp blade of Aura and Mana at the chains, shattering them. Satisfied, she repeated the process until Decimius was completely freed. The Orc didn't move whatsoever during the process, not even standing up to thank her. There was barely any light in his eyes, yet something still lingered.

Liara sighed and sheathed her sword. She could hear explosions and the sound of swords clashing outside getting closer. They didn't have a lot of time until the Newborn Ruler gave up chasing after Javier and came back to this place.

"Decimius. I remember you as a powerful warrior. A man who went head to head with Glenn." She held her hand out for him to grab. "Are you still that man—that Orc? Don't you want to take revenge on those who inflicted this fate upon you? Whatever the reason is, I am certain you do not deserve it."

Decimius looked at the offered hand and closed his good eye. "Why need me? I not useful."

Liara smiled gently. "Oh, that isn't what I've heard. Grab my hand, and we will show the ones who imprisoned you what Decimius, the Orc who fought the Duke of the Stars to a standstill, is really worth."

At the mention of Glenn's title, the Orc's eyes came alive again. He grunted and grabbed her hand, pulling himself up. Blood poured out of his wounds, but he didn't seem to care whatsoever.

"Voluntas deorum?" He declared with a malevolent expression. "Maledicti sint"

He looked at Liara and repeated himself in broken Common Tongue.

"Curse the gods. Let's fight!"