Time passed, and Althea’s mourning slowed into crying. The suns above shifted further, and the cries of monsters came closer. Her sobbing ceased, and once she quit shaking, I let her go. I stayed there, waiting however long she needed. She smiled at me, her eyes red and puffy,
“You know, I thought your armor would be all hard and poky.”
My eyes widened, and I gazed down.
“What? Really? Oh man, I didn’t mean to-”
She laughed, her first laugh with any real joy in it for a while,
“For some reason, the metal softened when you gave me that hug. It was…Warm.”
Our eyes met, and I felt something tug at my chest. I smiled back,
“I’m glad to hear that.”
She took a breath before standing up. Even if weighed down by emotion, she glided through the moment like an eagle in flight. Althea raised a hand to her lips.
“Please don’t tell the others, ok?”
I stood, my feet heavy while a smile traced my lips,
“Only if you keep my secrets too.”
She lowered a hand, and her eyes twinkled,
“Deal.”
We cleaned up the campsite, and I tried using telekinesis all the while. It let Althea collect herself as I gained practice in my abilities. Once all our supplies were tucked away, we set out. I turned toward the mountain and ebbed ascendant mana into my runes. I shot forward, Althea leaping into the air behind me.
With her flight, she was far faster than I could hope of running. Learning to fly would be a dream come true while granting plenty of utility, but I’d save that for later. I tore up the mountainside by tearing out clumps of the ground while Althea soared above. Once we ascended higher, the air thinned and cooled.
A gray ice smothered the upper levels of the mountain, the snow smelling like lemons and basil. I salivated at it while wondering if I could use this in a candle or a salad. For a quick moment, I cursed my inability to carry it out of here, but alas, I was only a monster of metal and mana, not a bucket.
Further up, the ground hardened into a dense, compact stone. It didn’t give underfoot so it held up against the weight of my heels. With that firm footing, Althea and I reached closer to the apex of the mountain where a white spire loomed. As we reached it, several shifting shadows floated around the mountain top.
Flowing into view, a fluther of icy jellyfish created clouds. Snow fell from these clouds, and inside the jellyfish’s bell heads, innumerable spines jutted inward. Their mouths were iron maidens of ice and acid. Vines draped from their insides, the smell suspiciously like basil. I blinked in surprise as the ice’s strange scents explained themselves.
These jellyfish lured animals here using their ice. It was interesting. Their tentacles stretched out from the middle of each jellyfish’s cap. The little limbs whirled around beneath each monster, bulbous orbs covering the tentacles. When a limb banged against a rock, one of those swollen spheres of liquid burst. Liquid nitrogen coursed over the rock. A cracking whip from the same tentacle cracked the stone into powder seconds after.
As I stared at the spectacle, no messages appeared. I forgot Schema wasn’t here to help with my analysis. From what I could tell, we had to avoid the tentacles and teeth. Honestly, my analysis was pretty basic, but I turned to Althea anyway,
“You ready?”
She raised her rifle.
“Always.”
Several of the monsters floated to us, but Althea nailed them with several spikes. Her fire rate improved, bolting four of the five monsters against a cliffside before they even reached me. At the same time, she tried different kinds of spearheads.
The spears carried a midpoint where hundreds of outward facing spines gleamed. A sharpened end of the spear acted as an anchor point when the lance inevitably pierced their foe. The leftover force carried the enemy to a wall where the spear then ensnared the enemy in a bramble of spines.
Each bolt guaranteed a kill on the enemy. Still limited by her fire rate, she couldn’t kill them all despite her innovations. Once a few jellyfish neared me, the translucent body of the monsters glowed bright before a wave of sound burst to me. The sonic wave trembled the air like a cannon of sound.
The wave encompassed me, busting my eardrums before a shotgun blast of ice shards flung at my armor. Unlike before, I withheld my mana. I crossed my arms overhead while bending my knees. I forced my arms in outward arcs, and two telekinetic panels deflected the spikes to my sides.
Directing the force to my heels, I followed the force and jumped up. The tentacles whipped my way. Bursts of telekinesis weaved me between them, and I reared a fist back upon nearing one.
Now, now was the time for mana.
I formed and slammed telekinetic fields into the body of the first beast. The monster exploded in a burst of ice and spines. In tandem, I bolted back from the telekinetic ricochet. Struggling to keep control, I spun in the air before lobbing another telekinetic punch. I burst another jellyfish, though its tentacles grazed me.
Two more jellyfish popped like frozen grenades. Wounds piled on my shoulders and sides. I quieted the rage in my mind while letting myself land on the ground. I dragged several feet back on the ice, and several spots on my armor froze over. I channeled more mana, and the heat helped heal my wounds.
It carried a vehement zeal, one I wrestled against. I grabbed the sides of my head, twitching back and forth before calming myself. The few remaining jellyfish flowed to me, and I deflected them using telekinetic shoves. I tuned my breaths, listening to the sound. It calmed me, giving direction amidst the storm.
I flowed between the monsters as Althea culled them. She sliced through their frail forms, her spears flying like hammerhead sharks through a school of fish. Tentacles and bodies fell to the ground. As the monsters tried passing her by, I reached out and grasped one in a telekinetic clamp. Making sure the weight of the rebound rested on my back, I lifted up which forced the creature downward.
Being as light as it was, the force of my shove sent it tumbling at the ground. As it landed, the monster splat. A flower of ice bloomed, and I grasped shards. Lances of ice flew up, and I joined Althea in projectile warfare.
What the jellyfish offered in offensive potential, they lacked in survivability. I turned to the other monsters on the wall, and they were covered in harpoons.
I grinned, “How are you firing so many bolts?”
“I made some earlier so that I could use them now.”
I facepalmed.
“That’s genius.”
She flushed.
“Thanks. I, uh, try.”
Four jellyfish neared me, and mana surged in my limbs. After spreading my arms, I slammed my hands together, ebbing a slight shockwave. The beasts trembled, and Althea’s spears made short work of them. Once we finished them all off, Althea landed beside me. As per usual, I flashed my aura over her, and she winced.
I felt even worse than usual, but I pushed that down before absorbing the jellyfish bodies. As I did, Althea followed behind me. She had her hands interlocked behind herself, and she stepped as if dancing,
“You know, it’s easy to forget. I dread the thought of coming to a dungeon like this. It was terrifying. Now that I’m here, it’s almost like I’m in a home I never knew I had. I…I feel better here than in your world, and it’s like I don’t have to second guess every little thing I say. It’s been nice.”
I glanced at my relaxed hand before pulling the armor off my face,
“Hmmm…It’s weird, because I feel that too.” I glanced up at her as my armor siphoned jellyfish, “It’s like I was made to be here.”
Her eyes held apprehension,
“Yeah, we were made for this, weren’t we?”
I nodded my head,
“In a way, we’re both failed experiments, right? I say we make Yawm and Baldag-Ruhl's failings into our successes.”
She nodded. I soaked in a few more bodies before she let out a sigh.
“So…Uhm, I heard about how much mana you have from Torix. He laughed when he mentioned it, maniacally, actually, but I was pretty worried about it. Not that I don’t trust you or anything.”
I scoffed.
“Oh, I don’t blame you. I worry about it too. It’s difficult to reign in, but I’m getting plenty of practice.”
I got through half the bodies. Althea coughed into a hand.
“Please, just remember that if you ever let go for too long, you may never be able to pull it back. I know I wouldn’t have been able to get my body back without you helping me. The difference is that no one can help you if you lose control.”
Another wave of unease passed over me, one aimed at my own struggles against mana’s influence. I sighed.
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to upset-”
I waved her apology off,
“What? Nooo. If anything, I always need the reminder. The power gained from mana, it’s…It’s palpable. I’m staving it off, but it's tempting each and every time I use it. So yeah, a few extra warnings are warranted.”
I shrugged.
“All that to say, I appreciate it.”
She glanced down and took a deep breath.
“Good. Good.”
After a few minutes, I finished the process of cleanup. She watched the last corpse dry, and she said,
“Do you ever think it already has you? The mana, I mean.”
I considered it for a moment. I raised a hand, my fist level with my face. My skin rippled like a lake’s surface,
“I know what my armor wants, and let’s just say it’s unpleasant.”
Ascendance raged from my palm,
“But regardless of what it tries to be, I know what it really is: a tool. It's like a knife. We can blame the knife or its bearer, but I tend to blame the one holding the handle, not the knife itself. This armor and all that comes with it, it’s just like a blade. It carries terrible potential, but I have a choice of how I wield it.”
She frowned.
“A knife can’t take over your mind.”
I lowered my arm.
“That’s very true. So maybe this is more like a stallion? Analogies aside, I have a choice whether this is a boon or a bane. I think we’re the same there, so you tell me – is being an immaterial shapeshifter a blessing or a curse?”
She glanced up at the red sky. She shrugged.
“I used to think it was the worst thing to ever happen to me, but now, I’m starting to wonder.”
I grinned before standing up.
“Good. Now then, let’s go kick some ass.”
We reached the top of the mountain where the white energy beam spiraled from. Surrounded by the red sky and clouds, I frowned at where the energy poured. It beamed from a stone pillar covered in runes reminiscent of BloodHollow. Around the pillar, a spiral staircase made of white stone dug deep into the mountain. I pulled oppression in, turning the aura off as Althea landed behind me.
She glanced up at the spire of white,
“What in the world is this?”
My eyes narrowed,
“A straight shot to the dungeon boss.”
We walked down the stairs, Althea dragging her hand against the stone. As we descended deeper, the sounds of an insect’s shuffling filled my ears. I narrowed my eyes,
“There’s going to be bugs. Lots of them. Be ready.”
Althea sighed, before clenching her unformed fist,
“Let’s go, uhm, smash them to powder or whatever you’d probably say.”
We let out nervous laughs before reaching a doorway covered in runes. As I glanced at them, they unraveled a bit, like a knot untying. I approached the doorway before leaking my ascendance into it. The mana poured through the runes, lighting them red before the spire behind us turned pink in color. I glanced at Althea, but she didn’t know what was going on either.
I surged more mana into the stone, and it charged overtime. More of the runic glyphs glowed, and I turned to Althea.
“You know, this has been fun.”
She beamed back.
“Really? I thought you’d hate me after I started sobbing.”
I furrowed my brow.
“It’s good to see who you really are, wounds and all. Besides, I know you’d do the same for me.”
She stared at me, her eyes piercing,
“Yeah. I would.”
With a loud crack, the door’s runes charged. With the sound of sliding stone, the doorway crept open before I paced into the room. Within was an abyss of bodies. The ground and walls moved, as if alive. Something stored in glowing capsules squirmed on the backs of insects, each of them carrying their payload to a queen of them all.
It held a dual body, one shimmering and ephemeral while the other mirrored rock and obsidian. That tangible, lower body was a giant scorpion covered in plates of ice, vines, and squirming egg sacs. Above its head, a shifting woman arose from the top of the creature. Glossy black hair accentuated a curvaceous figure. It sang out, its harmony infectious and disarming.
It melted my resistance, and I turned to Althea. She blinked at it, her voice hoarse.
“Why is that half you and half scorpion?”
I took a ragged breath as it weighed on my mind.
“It’s not. I think it’s using an illusion.”
The monster’s human body grinned with an enchanting smile. It whispered to me, singing songs of lust and power. It reached out with a clawed hand and eyes like emeralds. My knees trembled as the insects crawled our way. An emotion to submit to its charms overcame me. It washed through every part of my mind, soul, and memories.
And I surged an unbounded ascendance in retaliation.
The roar of hunger, rage, and battle thundered into my mind. Red sparks flared over my skin alongside an aura of red mana. I shook from hate and adrenaline. It sparked into my mind, dual voices speaking of harm and harmony. It oozed from my frame, pouring into the walls and Althea nearby.
Her stupor altered into hunger. I smiled at the power, my face awash in bloodlust. The scorpion saw my loosening sanity despite its charms. A bitter grimace planted onto its face, the tantalizing illusion reaching out to us. As it did, the floor and the ceiling shifted. It was as if the entire room folded in on itself.
Althea changed herself beside me, her bones cracking out of place before she rasped in a warped voice,
“Thank you for the burst of mana. It woke me up.”
She flung herself out of the room.
“I’ll be outside. Use your aura.”
She climbed up and out of the stairs with monstrous hands. As I turned to the oncoming horde, I escalated oppression to its full might. I clamped both fists and grit my teeth. I was ready for what was to come, and that anticipation thrummed to me like war drums and the sounds of slaughter.
And so, there was a sea of monsters.