Mage Tank

Chapter 211: Chat Room

“Brae’ach!” said Hysteria, clapping their hands together. “Buddy, friend, pal, guy, when have I ever called you for something that wasn’t important?”

The hulking Davahn stared at the avatar, what little I could see of their face devoid of emotion. The grid of souls surrounding them sat silent and still, and the moment stretched until even I felt awkward.

Hysteria huffed. “The king of Hiward got away,” they said, then raised a finger. “Not my fault! Those little boxes Limbo gave you do not go nowhere, as he advertised. No, they go somewhere that is the corpus of a rather powerful and cranky god.”

Brae’ach said nothing for several seconds. Hysteria tapped the tips of their fingers together while they waited.

“Limbo’s magicks are those of absence and separation,” said Brae’ach. “Your claim presents a lamentable deviation from this nature.”

Hysteria looked down at their nails and frowned at their ephemeral fingers. They were still pretending to be the Wishborn.

“I mean, it was kind of nowhere,” Hysteria admitted. “But ‘nowhere’ has a ruler, and its ruler does not enjoy it when something appears where nothing should be.”

“Of what echelon was this divinity?”

“The third,” said Hysteria.

Brae’ach’s souls fluttered for a moment, though he was outwardly calm.

“You are certain of this?”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Three syllables,” said Hysteria, holding up three fluttering fingers. “I heard the name myself. It spoke to me. I am as certain as certain can be.”

Brae’ach glanced at Hysteria’s dancing digits. “We are of no consequence to such a being,” he said.

“Yes, well, it disagrees.” Hysteria crossed their arms. “Want to know what it said?”

Brae’ach held up a hand. “Reveal its truth where we are certain what eyes behold us. Tell me how you came upon its name.”

Hysteria looked annoyed at being shut down, but the expression was quickly replaced with a smirk. “You remember those kids who flicked Orexis in his dangly bits and then ran off with his daughter?”

The souls around Brae’ach shifted, allowing one near the edge to move closer to his head. It emitted a soft pressure.

“Fortune’s Folly,” he said. “The scion joined their party afterward. They are one of the groups responsible for the transition.”

“Their party leader called the god down on us,” said Hysteria, nearly shouting the word “called”. “Young guy, kind of tall, has sparkly black and green eyes that I’m sure the ladies love but I bet they love his lashes even more. Those things are just so full, I think I’m going to steal them. Outstanding genetics, overall. He also wears a feather boa on top of his armor which I respect, but also kind of hate, you know?”

Brae’ach went still again as he absorbed the information. “What Level is this group?”

“Twelve,” said Hysteria. “For now.”

Brae’ach’s eyes narrowed. “Your tale grows ever more doubtful, Hysteria,” he said, several soft clicks playing out beneath the words. “We will speak of this with an Arbiter present once you have returned.”

“You have trust issues, Brae-Brae. You’re gonna have to learn to put yourself out there if you want to build meaningful connections with people.”

The mask around Brae’ach’s mouth shifted, but I couldn’t tell if he’d smiled or sneered. “What of the Zenithar?”

“Ugh, she’s around here somewhere. You know how Geulons are, all sneaky and shit.” Hysteria hunched their shoulders and moved their hands in what must have been an attempt at pantomiming stealth. “I’ll blast the place with my aura to shake her loose, although I have burned through a lot of favor today already.”

“Is this all?” asked Brae’ach.

“Excuse me?” said Hysteria.

“Is this all for which you have demanded my time? To discuss your failures and lay blame at the feet of children?”

“Did you hear the part about the third echelon divinity?”

“A claim you know must be made in the presence of an Arbiter,” said Brae’ach, the clicking growing louder. It looked like the man’s jaw was elongating beneath his mask. “If you or Limbo have angered this being, there is nothing to be done. If it wishes to scatter our realm, then we will return to the cycle before we know what has come to pass. There is naught to do but wait, even if you speak truth.”

Hysteria gave the man a tight, demeaning smile. “Your attitude doesn’t entertain me, Brae’ach. If you bore me, I have no reason to play along with your games.”

Brae’ach’s projection took a step toward Hysteria, and the souls swam away from him like a school of fish. They surrounded Hysteria, nipping at the avatar’s edges as though they were looking for dead skin to feed on. The large Davahn took another step forward, looking Hysteria up and down.

“You are injured,” said Brae’ach. “Let not fear drive your mind to anger.”

Hysteria swatted at the souls, but the swarm parted to let their arm pass. Brae’ach tensed, and the souls arrayed around Hysteria snapped into a swirling pattern. Hysteria’s Wishborn disguise peeled away, revealing the avatar’s colorful skeleton. Brae’ach took another step, his eyes settling on Hysteria’s chest.

“Orexis’s whelp gave me a pinprick,” said Hysteria. “Hardly what I’d call an injury.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Another step, and Brae’ach was two feet from the avatar. He reached out, extending a finger to Hysteria’s sternum as though he wanted to stroke it. Hysteria took a step away from the projection, and Brae’ach’s mask shifted again. I was pretty sure it was a smile this time.

“Yes, I see,” said Brae’ach. Then his eyes ran over the rest of Hysteria’s body. “It is more than that, though. Your essence is… shaken.”

The Davahn peered into Hysteria’s eye sockets, and the small beads of mercury within shuddered under the man’s gaze.

“Your word is weak and so your bonds are loose,” said Brae’ach. “But would you risk pulling at your leash when you are so…” He waved a hand up and down at the avatar, each craggy finger as thick as one of Hysteria’s ribs. “Fragile?”

Brae’ach leaned in and placed a hand on Hysteria’s shoulder, his palm swallowing up nearly half of the avatar’s chest, then whispered. “Brittle bone will break before the chain.”

Hysteria raised glowing hands and the projection destabilized. The distorted image of Brae’ach flowed back, his souls following behind, until he coalesced just outside of Hysteria’s reach. The two stared at one another as Brae’ach’s swarm returned to roll lazily around the Davahn. Hysteria reached up and brushed off the shoulder the man had ‘touched’.

“I also found a Delve,” said Hysteria. “I stuck one of your thingies inside the obelisk.” They gestured at the cylinder that was swallowing up all the Dimensional mana.

Brae’ach turned to look at the obelisk as though he was only just noticing it. His head tilted back an inch. “Why?” he asked.

“Why did I stick your thingy in there? Because you asked me to.”

“Why are you within a Delve?”

“Right,” said Hysteria. “So you remember those kids who tickled Orexis’s backdoor exit and then kidnapped his newborn daughter?”

“Yes,” Brae’ach said, tone neutral. The man didn’t even miss a beat.

“Well, Mr. Lashes has a Delve Core as a Bonded Familiar,” said Hysteria. “Turns out, he has a whole Delve hidden inside his dimensional space.”

Brae’ach flicked a finger and the soul swarm began to spread out. “What happened to the Core?”

“Lobotomized for now,” said Hysteria. “I had one of my people deal with it.”

The souls moved away from Brae’ach in a spiral pattern, beginning to engulf the entire obelisk chamber. I moved my view back to keep them in sight.

“The Core was ‘dealt’ with before you connected to me?”

“Of course,” said Hysteria. They watched the souls continue to spread out. “I’m not a fucking moron.”

The souls suddenly gained a burst of speed and swelled to fill the entire room. One swam directly in front of me.

Brae’ach slowly turned and looked directly at me.

The Davahn blinked, and my eyeballs exploded.

The world went dark and my head snapped back hard enough that my helm cracked into the wall behind me. Something in my neck made a sound that it shouldn’t and my feet slid out from under me. My arms refused to respond as I hit the ground hard on my side.

I felt warm, viscous fluid running down my cheeks.

HP: 1898 -> 1198

I had just regen’d back to full health, and this mother fucker glared at me for 700 damage.

He wasn’t even there!

I wasn’t even there!

Neither of us was in the room, and dude winked at me for more than a third of my health. I also hadn’t been the only one who’d gotten a dirty look, based on the labored breathing and groans around me.

“You guys alright?” I asked.

“I think my brain is bleeding,” Xim said in a rough voice. Mine probably would have been if I weren’t immune.

I ignored my lack of normal vision and looked my allies over with Soul Sight. Xim was sitting with her back against a wall, while Varrin struggled to his feet. The big guy came over to me and knelt. I heard him place a hand on my shoulder, but couldn't feel it. He started working the straps on my helmet. I heard the metal groan as he bent the metal to get it off me.

“Your eyes are missing,” he said once he’d removed the bascinet.

“I figured. I felt a familiar ooze running down my face,” I said. “There’s also the indescribable pain. Still got your eyes?”

“Yes. We were not directly connected to the obelisk,” said Varrin. “I believe we were hit by the castoff. Can you move your arms?”

I tried to make a fist.

“Nope,” I said. “Seems like my neck is broken as well.”

“Hells,” Xim swore then crawled over to me. She placed her hands on either side of my face, and I felt a pulse of mana go through me. “Nothing to Cleanse,” she muttered, then cast Heal.

HP: 1208 -> 1438

My spine clicked and sensation came flooding in from everything below the neck. A severe itch began to burn in my eye sockets, followed by an uncomfortable swelling sensation. Xim cast another Heal, and my vision began to return in blurry splotches. I blinked away tears, then pulled a rag from inventory alongside a canteen. I wet the rag and wiped the remnants of my old eyes out of my new ones.

“I had high hopes for today,” I said as I cleaned vitreous fluid from my face and beard. “But things just aren’t working out.”

I grabbed my helm to wipe it out as well, but the bascinet had been twisted and dented too badly to wear. Even with the Verdantum material’s self-repair, the day’s abuse was too much. It would take several hours for it to regain its shape.

“Avatar was bad enough,” said Xim. “Something that can kill us at a glance from the other side of the continent is too much.”

“What do you suggest we do?” asked Varrin. “We cannot allow that creature to capture the Zenithar.”

“Etja’s down there, too,” I said.

“Walking into that is suicide,” said Xim. “Listen, I’ll run in there right beside you two psychos if I have to, but I’d really like us to explore our options first.”

The three of us stared into space for a few seconds.

“Sub-el!” I shouted. “You saw that shit, right?” I looked up at the mini obelisk. It had exploded alongside my eyes. I held up my hand and saw that the gauntlet was ruined and three of my fingers were missing nails. “Tell me you got that on video, Sub-el!”

I started looking for my old fingers so I could recover the Verdantum. One was embedded in my leg. It had pierced through my chausses.

Override code 001 has been accepted.

Your message has been forwarded directly to System Core 2.

Your message has been relayed to User Name: Avarice.

Due to the damage to Core 1156, I have been authorized to take temporary control of Delve 1156-B with co-arbiter permission.

Would you like me to take control?

I started to respond, but paused when I felt a tingle run down my back. I stood up, dropping my rag and canteen, then exchanged a look with Xim and Varrin.

“I’d like to go to the obelisk chamber,” I said.

“Sounds good to me,” said Xim.

“Let us go then,” said Varrin.

I closed my eyes and reached strangeward, going around the teleportation wards and through an endless mess of vines. I cast Shortcut, taking Xim and Varrin with me.

We appeared in a shower of squirming vines, finding Hysteria floating cross-legged in the air, alone. Potent Spiritual mana flowed off the avatar in waves, crashing outward through the Delve. The three of us lined up in a neat row, waiting for them to speak.

Several of the vines slithered over the invisible barrier created by the inventory slots along the bottom of the room. They tried to dig down into the stasis, presumably to free their hibernating kin. The vines didn’t have much energy alone, however, and began to slow before long. Hysteria tracked them as they went, but ignored the Dominion Ivy after a few seconds of observation.

“You made me look bad,” said Hysteria, gesturing to where the projection of Brae’ach had stood. “I do not appreciate that.”