Path of the Deathless

82 (I) Fall [I]

-The Culturist, Legendary Orc War Maestro82 (I)

Fall [I]

The elemental golem struggled to crush Shiv’s head, even with both limbs of crashing water infused with lightning pressing down on him. He simply reached into its chest and closed his fingers. Its mana core detonated, and Shiv briefly let out a slight grunt of pain as the left side of his body swelled with searing agony.

He was slowly getting used to it, acclimating to how badly it hurt all the time. It still wasn't pleasant, and it affected his spellcasting without the Song of the Vigilant, but he could make do for now. In fact, getting hurt pissed him off, and getting pissed was fuel for his skills, thanks to his second Feat.

In a few strange ways, he was stronger than ever.

"Where the hell are they?" Shiv asked himself. He saw that the adamantine elevator leading through the third gateway to Vulketh had been severed. Its edges were corroded; clear evidence of Necromancy having been used. And he had a pretty good guess as to who did it. Despite this, Adam was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Uva. He couldn't see any of her mana strands, and if she was nearby, he suspected she would have reached into his mind already.

"Can Hu, you got eyes on them?" Shiv asked.

The Penitent briefly tapped into the sensory feeds of its hidden drones. Most of them were moving in on the automata slaves, about to free them from their bondage. But a few were atop the tallest buildings within the gate. Small screens opened in the corner of Shiv's vision. They showed just how devastated Gate Theborn truly was. Entire sections of the gate had collapsed. The mana bombs unleashed by the agents of Aviary were potent. Potent enough to outright obliterate several buildings, including critical barracks, the gate's agricultural fields, and over 20 residences, many of which had tumbled down into the molten rivers.

Something clenched inside Shiv's chest. The people in this gate were suffering. Always suffering. Every time someone fought here, people died. But soon, that was going to come to an end.

Just then, something tore open beside Shiv. He snapped to attention. His kukri appeared in his hand, equipped to his soul as it was. He prepared to attack the incoming Jump Mage—only to see Adam fly out through the rift, emerging with burning wings and a relieved expression on his face.

"Shiv, Broken Moon! I've been checking and searching the entire gate for the last five minutes."

"Sorry," Shiv said. "I was briefly caught up inside the teleportation anchor. Had to recover for a bit with Can Hu. But the anchor’s not gonna be an issue anymore." Shiv let out a low chuckle as he thought back to what he did to the vampires, and to the anchor in particular. "I butchered their backline forces before they could build up and cut off their way in. I killed one of the First Blood's Heroes and even bagged myself an owl."

"An owl?" Adam said, his eyes widening.

"Yeah," Shiv said. He reached into his cloak and pulled out the bound owl. The man struggled and kicked in futility. Adam flinched back in disgust and near-pity. This update ıs available on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

"Did you have to bind him in layers of your skin?" Adam asked, his expression souring.

Shiv shrugged. "I didn't really have anything better. It was in the heat of the moment. Besides, it's adamantine skin. He can't easily break out. He doesn't have the strength for it. And the owl here knows…" Shiv held the owl up so he could speak right where the agent’s ear was. The owl's courage shuddered and cracked. "...that if he tries to do anything, I'll take his limbs from him, one by one. Isn't that right?”

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The owl just whimpered and licked at his teeth—or rather, a gap where a couple were missing.

Shiv just chuckled. "Funny thing about Biomancy, it lets you detect some interesting things, such as hollow teeth with poison capsules inside." The owl's tongue flicked around and continued desperately searching, but to no avail. "Yeah, I got all of them. Bite your tongue off again if you want. I will use the Woundeater on you. Understand, you're not dying, you're giving us what we want. And afterward, well, if you still want to die, I might oblige you."

Dread Aura > 76

The owl shuddered and sobbed. Adam grimaced. "Shiv, is this necessary?"

The Deathless smirked. "It's good for my Dread Aura."

"Yes, well, you're using it on me too."

Shiv nodded. "Yeah, I'm always leveling Dread Aura. And you scream funny when you’re scared, so that’s a bonus.”

Adam sneered. "Bastard."

"Don't worry, Adam. You're more courageous than most, even if you do shiver like a leaf sometimes."

The Young Lord scoffed. "Well, the owl is a good capture. Well done, Shiv. Uva’s going to love this. Right, the anchor. You said you eliminated it—”

"Yeah, I completely destroyed it."

Adam blinked. "Completely?"

"Yep," Shiv said, smiling innocently. "I just gripped it and twisted until it was almost entirely crumpled, then I twisted it until the sides tore too. Like a can. Pretty good workout."

Adam just stared at him. "You crumpled the Jealousy's teleportation anchor, the one you described as being almost 400 meters long."

"It was a bit over 400 meters, I think," Shiv said, stretching his arms nonchalantly to flex his muscles while looking around. "It was kind of exhausting, but yeah, not too much trouble."

For a beat, the Young Lord said nothing. "You understand that you could have just damaged the parts where the spells were."

"Yeah, Can Hu told me, but…" Shiv shrugged. "You know, I kind of wanted to break stuff, especially after all that misery the vampires and the Aviary agents put me through. Blow off some steam and burn through my anger.”

Adam clearly didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry at that moment. "Shiv, we're kind of busy right now, if you haven't noticed,” he said, gesturing at distant explosions going off at the Abyssal gateway. “So maybe leave the ‘blowing off steam’ for after we kill Confriga and finish this Quest.”

Shiv was actually about to acquiesce when he noticed something in the Young Lord's expression. He folded his arms and simply smirked. And after a moment, Adam cracked and started laughing in disbelief. "But that does sound insane.”

Then, he turned around, and the radiance of a rising sun and sky-blue light bloomed in his eyes as he searched for Uva, but he didn't need to wait long until her strands shot through an obsidian building and bound her thoughts to theirs.

Shiv said,

Uva described the situation. She filtered a few of her memories as the sheer blast of details flooded their minds. Then, she started modulating her within the Shoggoth as both Shiv and Adam clutched their heads and struggled not to throw up.

Shiv said, clenching his teeth.

Uva said.

Adam suggested.

Both the Young Lord and the Deathless shared their memories with Uva and each other, and for a moment, they all rendered each other speechless.

Shiv broke the silence with a guffaw.

Uva said, and her coolness came with a vicious undercurrent of pride.

Adam said. The Young Lord's excitement was rising, and once more he cast his senses into the tower. For a moment, he just thought, and Shiv gave him the space to do so.

The Deathless turned his thoughts on Uva. he asked. He sensed a bit of unease from her still. More unease than she usually bore.

Shiv had briefly been mind-bonded with the Jealousy. And he cringed at the memory.

Uva said, her mind shivering with excitement. She had done something few Psychomancers ever did, and she it.

Uva said teasingly.

Shiv paused.

Shiv shrugged,

Uva bit back a laugh.

Adam said, interrupting both of them. He glared at Shiv.

Shiv said.

Silver Tongue > 20

Adam groaned.

Shiv said immediately.