WVKWnovel 140 (II) Predators [I]
140 (II) Predators [I]
140 (II) Predators [I]
Adam said.
Shiv said.
Uva said, staring at Adam.
Adam replied, squaring his shoulders.
Shiv asked sweetly.
Uva replied, staring at Adam without ever blinking.
Adam shuffled awkwardly.
Shiv asked.
Adam began.
Adam asked.
Shiv replied, his eyelid twitching.
Uva closed her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly.
Adam shoved a finger in Shiv’s face.
Uva frowned as Shiv and Adam continued arguing. A sigh escaped her.
Shiv asked, shoving a finger at Adam in turn.
Uva commented. Both Shiv and Adam paused to look at her.
Adam cringed in disgust. Shiv placed his hands on his knees and laughed. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that. I can accept that. Gate Arrow it is. So long as—”
“No,” Adam said aloud. “We can discuss the name of the gate later. Just let it go.”
“I’m never forgetting this shit,” Shiv sneered at Adam. There was almost lust in his breath from how much he relished the awkwardness of this moment. “Never.”
“You best forget it,” Adam shot back, jabbing at Shiv again. “Or I’ll name it Gate Shiv after all. And guess who Adam's Actual Penis—”
Adam choked before he could finish the threat. Shiv considered it for a moment and frowned.
Uva, however, looked between them, and her face developed into a faint smile.
Uva didn’t elaborate.
Shiv said.
Uva asked Shiv as she fixed him with a piercing stare.
The Deathless considered that for a beat.
Adam nodded.
Uva frowned.
Shiv said.
Uva replied.
Shiv shook his head.
Adam said.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Shiv answered.
Adam said. Adam flipped the pages of the orc’s battle proposals to a graph depicting a camp being built outside the Surface Gateway.
Shiv asked with narrowed eyes.
Adam closed the document for emphasis.
Shiv asked.
Adam answered.
Shiv remembered how hard Bonk hit him.
Shiv corrected. He tried to imagine leaving Uva and Adam alone with the orc Heroes. He didn’t want to.
Uva said.
Adam said. Adam pressed his lips together.
Shiv said.
Adam said, his eyes widening.
Shiv grinned.
Adam continued.
Adam cut him off.
And that gave Shiv ideas.
Adam’s mouth opened, but then he closed it shortly thereafter.
Shiv remembered Adam still had equipment that needed reforging.
***
Equipment Obtained: [Rapier of the Myriad Selves]
Tier: Heroic
Condition: Perfect
Composition: Stellarite; Bone Adamantine; Arcanite
Enchantments > User-Duplication; Pyromancy 70; Self-Sharpening; Self-Mending; Self-Shaping; Master Speed Amplification; Master Temporal Warding; Spatial Warding; Conduit of Dawn; Chrono-Clone Anchoring; Master Magic Amplification
Adam held his new rapier high and grinned at his reflection. It was a length of adamantine, edged with prismatic arcanite that itself was finally edged with golden mana. Shiv could sense a dense infusion of Chronomancy within the blade, and he felt a slight twinge of envy at how good the weapon was.
Nearby, Can Hu looked better than ever before. The Penitent’s joints still squeaked when it moved, but not nearly as loudly as before. The cracks on its chassis were fading as well.
“This reforging went smoother than anticipated,” Can Hu said, gesturing at the blade. “Both broken weapons shared many similar enchantments, and the mana melded easily. The same case stands true for the material as well. Stellarite called to stellarite, with only the arcanite and bone adamantine hilt proving a challenge to shape.”
“Remarkable,” Adam breathed. He swung his blade through the air, and it left a trail of Chronomancy in its wake. He flourished. The blade flashed. A dozen more Adams appeared around him, each sharing his expression. However, rather than just being like the old clones, Adam’s new clones were infused with a hint of Chronomancy. And it wasn’t just Shiv that noticed. Adam was eyeing his clones as well, and before they vanished, he waved his blade—and he blinked into a clone’s place, removing them entirely.
Shiv narrowed his eyes as he watched the Chronomancy mana within the clone shatter outright from the Chrono-Clone Anchoring transition. It was a bit like Shiv’s Chrono-Anchored Strike, but more fragile-feeling. Fainter.
“Huh,” Adam said, looking at himself. His blade’s golden glow grew brighter and brighter. “This seems—” He blinked back to where he was before. “—useful.” Adam looked around and frowned. “I… shifted back to where I was.”
“You did,” Shiv said. “Seems to be a bit different from my anchored strike. Temporary. There’s Chronomancy in all your clones, but you remove them by jumping to them, and the blade resets you back to your original position after a while anyway.”
Adam regarded the rapier again, but then nodded. “Not bad. Might even be better for me.”
“I am glad it pleases you,” Can Hu said. “Now. I have expended the remainder of the former Gate Lord’s arcanite toward the forging of the crystalline armor. Its merging has proven effective as well.”
The Penitent staggered over to a nearby stand and pulled off its cover. Underneath was a set of prismatic armor that resembled glass in terms of texture. Most importantly, Shiv had a slightly hard time on the armor. As if it was pushing away his senses somehow.
Uva, meanwhile, had little issue walking right up and examining it.
Equipment Obtained: [Veil of the Silent Caster]
Tier: Heroic
Condition: Perfect
Composition: Arcanite; Focus Crystal
Enchantments > Heroic Magic Amplification; Temporal Warding; Spatial Warding; Invisibility; Awareness Warding; Lagged Spells; Illusory Mana Field; Spell Priming; Self-Repairing
“I suspect the original wearer of this armor might have been more Shadow than Mage,” Uva commented.
Shiv and Adam stared at the armor beside her. Sweat beaded on Adam’s brow as he forced himself to look at the armor. “Shit,” Shiv breathed. “I don’t know what half of these enchantments do, but it’s kind of hard to focus on the armor.”
“What the hells is Awareness Warding?” Adam groaned. “Trying to look at this thing makes me feel ill.”
“I am not certain,” Uva said. She pressed her hand against the armor and then slipped one of her mana strands into it thereafter. “But I intend to find out very soon.”
“Alright, then,” Shiv said. “I think it's time for us to get ready for a field test.”
“Pathbearer Shiv,” Can Hu said. “I have a request—”
“Get in the cape,” Shiv said, not wasting time. “You too, Valor. I wanna see how our new toys work in a high-stress situation.”
“Our?” Adam asked.
Shiv converted his own bone armor into a spellpattern rendering with a flash of crimson mana. Adam’s eyes widened as Shiv grinned at him. “Yeah. . I got some biomass to assimilate.” Then, he reached into his cape and pulled out a dead basilisk’s venom gland—a gland he fed to one of his mana hydras before fusing that with his armor’s spell pattern. “Maybe more than some.”