NBB2 - The chaos rifts - chapter 27

Solus, Derin, and Scathia stood in a line, gazing at what had once been the most sprawling city the ancients had in this region. Now it was mostly an enormous pile of rubble and broken concrete. Dozens of wyrm carcasses lay strewn around the edges while explosions sounded from the middle.

A swirling mass of Ygdra's flew above, shooting balls of red crackling energy at something obscured to them by the hills of rubble.

It didn't matter if he could see it. Solus knew it had to be the large Wyrm.

A blue lightning bolt shot up, striking one of the Ygdras, and ripping one of its wings off. The flying undead monstrosity tumbled down and out of their sight. Solus could feel a tremor as it hit the ground.

That's what I've been feeling, he realized. Thinking back and trying to recall how many tremors he had felt, his eyes widened. If those things had mana-orbs, there had to be dozens, perhaps hundreds on the ground. He shuddered. If that Wyrm absorbed those and became infected like those Kaots did? Like Tirella had been?

"There are over four hundred of those things," Scathia said, her eyes flicking between the Ygdra's and the spot which they were attacking.

Solus ignored her. He needed to get her to share how to absorb a mana-core, but would she if she knew she had to go into there to get one? He feared she wouldn't, but he didn't have time to head in there to get it for her…if he even could. He had started to realize more and more that although he was strong, there were many things more powerful than him in this world.

Gritting his teeth, he turned to Scathia.

"The Wyrm in the middle has the mana-core you seek. Now tell me how to absorb these things!"

Scathia's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you won't destroy me and grab it yourself after I tell you?"

Solus was about to say he didn't need it to when he bit his tongue. Her glittering eyes somehow told him she already guessed there was something more going on, and he had a bad premonition that she would want the one in Skulltown if he confirmed her suspicion.

Solus grabbed her around the neck, squeezing,

"My patience has run out. Either you tell me now and take the risk, or I will end you and find another way."

Scathia glared at him, her eyes shining. Then she smiled. "No, you're bluffing. There is no other way, and you know it."

Her smile and the surety of her words caused Solus strained emotions to flare up, and in an angry reflex, he squeezed. Scathia's eyes bulged out, and he heard a soft crack from her neck. Shocked, he let go and stepped back. Had he ended her?

After what seemed like forever, Scathia's arms moved, and she pushed herself up. Solus quickly put a grim look on his face, trying to cover his shock.

"If you want me to tell you, you will bring me the core," Scathia's words were soft and dripping with hate. She was rubbing her neck, which was slowly thickening.

With great effort, Solus turned to Derin, who was still quietly staring at him. The purple undead looked at him for a moment, seeming to mull things over, then shrugged.

Solus saw the hidden fear in Derin's eyes, and he sighed.

"Fine. We will wait here for the others, and then I'll get that core."

Scathia didn't reply but got up and moved beside the Cherocs that had closed in without Solus noticing.

Her presence, combined with the Cherocs and how she was constantly looking at him, was getting under his skin, and he knew he needed to do something to relieve his tension. Taking a deep breath of the stuffy air, he focused on the stone below his feet. A low square cube grew out the ground, the dust flowing from its sides. It was half as high as him and had a single opening that faced them.

"Go inside. It's not safe out here," he growled.

At first, Scathia seemed to ignore him, then two of the Cherocs entered the building, disappearing from view. A moment later, Scathia and the others followed.

Derin stepped beside Solus. "She can communicate with them. Why don't you just close the entrance until the others are here?" he whispered.

Solus blinked in surprise at the idea, then began grinning. His initial plan to stay inside with Scathia to keep an eye on her seemed useless suddenly. He could sense what happened inside and boxed in as they were he was pretty sure she couldn't get out or do anything to harm them.

The subterranean building's entrance closed with a solid thud, leaving a square without any entrances or exits behind. Thinking for a moment, Solus created a small building beside it, also partially buried, but with windows that gave a view of the wasteland. He walked inside and stepped down the short stairs until his head was almost level with the wasteland. A stone daze with benches stood in the middle, and he sat down. Derin followed him, sitting across.

"Are you actually going to fight that Wyrm?" Derin asked, with a frown. "Even all those Ygdra's combined can't seem to bring it down." As he spoke, he got up again and looked through a window that gave a view of the Ygdra's and their constant barrage of red energy.

"Unless you have a better idea, I don't think we have another option," Solus said, closing his eyes and laying down on the bench.

"We could take her to Skulltown. Drys might be able to get an answer from her."

Derin's idea made sense, but Solus had the feeling they just didn't have the time for it. He had hoped to get an answer, leave Derin here to wait for Tirella and the others, and rush to Skulltown. Or, he sighed, knowing he wasn't completely honest with himself, end Scathia and absorb the mana-core of the Wyrm himself.

They sat for a long time, the sky brightening with the light of dawn.

"There they are!" Derin said, pointing through one of the windows at a few specs heading their way.

Solus gazed at the incoming undead. At first, he wasn't sure they were even normal undead, but as they closed in, he realized Derin was right. Tirella was walking in front, while Tatjie was behind her, carrying something in her arms. The zombie was moving slowly, her head down as she stared at the ground.

Is he still not awake? Solus thought, worry rising at the unmoving dark shape.

Following Derin, who was rushing out of the building, he waited. When Tirela was close enough, he saw a worried look on her face.

Great, what else can go wrong?

Getting restless, he walked towards them to see what was going on. When he reached them, he fell in line with Tirela, walking back towards where Derin stood. He took a cursory glance at Tatjie and saw that she was breathing hard. She carried Sig in her arms, who was still motionless.

"He didn't wake up?" he said as he turned his worried gaze to Tirela.

"He does, but only for short periods, and the time between takes longer every time," Tirela said, looking at Sig with obvious worry.

"He says his mana isn't regenerating as it should."

Solus silently observed the unconscious undead until he realizedTatjie was swaying, barely still on her feet.

"We need to get him a mana-orb before it's too late," he said, thinking of the dozens of Wyrms lying around. Why hadn't he gone and grabbed some yet? He could also use some.

Tirela shook her head. "We tried that, but it didn't work."

Solus frowned, his worry growing. "Did you give him a Wyrm orb?"

"No. We only had a small one..." Tirela said, trailing off and gazing at the wyrm bodies that lay in the distance.

Solus turned to Derin. "Can you go and get us a few of those Wyrm orbs?"

"Right away!" Derin called back and began slowly running towards the nearest Wyrm.

"Where is Scathia?" Tirela asked.

Solus pointed at the partially buried square they had almost reached.  An opening formed, and almost immediately, one of the Cherocs jumped out. A moment later, Scathia stormed out, a glare on her face. When she saw Tirela, her eyes began glittering.

"I see you've found the other one? Are you going to give me her core instead?"

Solus' face darkened, and he was about to growl a reply when Tirela jumped forward. She struck Scathia in the face, causing the thin, emaciated undead to topple back and fall flat on her back while Tirela ran close. Then she just hovered over Scathia, glaring at her.

Solus laughed softly before moving forward and placing his hand on Tirela's shoulder. He felt the pent up rage in her and quickly drew her back.

"When Derin comes back, I have to go and see if I can end that Wyrm. She doesn't want to tell me without a core…"

Tirella frowned, then looked at his hand that still rested on her shoulder. A smile crept up her face, and Solus quickly pulled back his hand.

"Don't worry. She isn't going anywhere, and perhaps I can motivate her to tell me!"

Her smile combined with the softly glowing eyes made Solus worry for Scathia's safety.

"Make sure she stays in one piece. It would be too bad if she isn't able to tell us how to absorb the core."

"Ok… but I've been thinking. Can't you ask it?" She looked pointedly at the ground.

Solus sighed and shook his head. "I've tried, but it's not responding."

"Perhaps if we try together?"

Hearing Tirela's soft, hazy voice, Solus felt his mind go fuzzy again. It took a moment to clear it, but then he sighed. This must be what Norg was talking about. Wondering why now, and if it was because she was similar to him, he shook his head quickly.

"It might be dangerous. We can't risk giving her an opening," he said, staring at Scathia, who was frowning at them. Solus wondered how much she understood. He was afraid it was more than he'd like.

Derin came jogging back, empty-handed and with a frown.

Now what...

"Those Wyrms have no more orbs. Someone or something must have gotten there before me and took them," Derin said as he stopped before them.

"Bile and puss!" Solus cursed. He turned to the city and thought for a moment before glaring at Scathia.

"I am going to get that core. You go back in that room, so I don't have to worry you will do something stupid."

Scathia snorted, but to his surprise, she got up and walked entered the room without a fuss. The Cherocs followed her, and Solus closed the entrance. Somehow her silent acceptance worried him.

"Derin, go and scour those nearby Wyrms. Perhaps there is a mana-orb left," he said, noting the other's weariness. "If you find more than one, absorb one yourself. But give one to Sig first..."

"Alright, but don't expect one, let alone two," Derin said before moving back with a look of resignation.

Solus turned to Tirela, who was staring at him intently. She seemed to be following all of what he did with the utmost care.

"I'm going to head for the Wyrm. It might be big, but it's still just a Wyrm. Take care of Scathia and the others?"

Tirella nodded, squaring her shoulders. Tatjie lay behind her, stretched out on the ground beside Sig, eyes closed and drawing deep breaths.

"If I'm not back in a day, head to Skulltown and tell Drys what happened. Make sure he knows how dangerous Scathia is."

Getting a nod from Tirella and a weak wave from Tatjie, he turned and headed towards the still-raging battle.

The slabs of concrete, highways, and roads were all that was left of the city. Even the outer area of buildings, far from the epicenter, had crumbled from the constant shaking. The group of Ygdras had visibly thinned, and he wondered why they weren't just leaving.

When he was a safe distance from the others, he jumped forward, leaving a cracked pit behind as he sailed through the air. As he picked up speed, his jumps became higher and farther until he could see above some of the rubble. Shapes were lying amongst the ruins, and when he got closer, he realized what they were. Ygdra's lay scattered everywhere; their bodies ripped apart. Small figures were rummaging through them, running around and occasionally fighting each other.

Are those Sigmitons? Solus thought, surprised.

When he landed again, he changed his direction, heading towards the closest small shapes. As the air streaked along his face, he looked down. Not too far from him, initially hidden from his view by a higher pile of rubble, he saw a dozen Sigmitons rip into a just downed Ygdra. They were concentrated around its head.

Blood and bile! They must also be the ones who took the wyrm orbs!  Inspecting them for a bit, he frowned as he realized something. What are they going to evolve into if they absorb those Kaot-orbs?

He quickly scanned the area, seeing Sigmitons everywhere. In moments he counted dozens of groups, and he knew he had to do something. If they continued like this, the Sigmitons would swarm away eventually and cause trouble for Skulltown. An idea came, and he began releasing waves of pressure. He hadn't used this move since evolving, and where his physical prowess hadn't increased as much as he had hoped, he was stunned to see visible waves flow through the air away from him.

The waves shimmered as they traveled outwards. Within moments they reached a group of Sigmitons who were in the middle of ripping through an eye socket to get inside a Ygdra's skull. The waves struck them like a sledgehammer, and all but one crumbled to the ground. The one that was still in one piece stood frozen in place, shivering. Not too far off, another two groups had the same reaction. One of the groups was wiped out entirely, while two remained standing in the second group. Solus knew he had reached more groups when he felt minuscule connections appear in his mind.

Not again, he thought with a groan.

The last time it had taken him days to remove the connections without ending the Sigmitons. Inspecting them, ready to sever them, he realized the connections were different from the previous ones. Although just as weak, they seemed more intricate, and he felt as if he could send signals. Unsure what to make of it, he looked around. After a moment, he sent a 'come here' message through one of the connections, and immediately the sigmiton he had targeted ran towards him.

A grin surfaced on his face as he realized the applications. Then he felt the minuscule drain on his mana-field. Again, nothing was for free. Should he create more minions? He hesitated for a moment, but the image of a thousand Kaot-Sigmitons raiding Skulltown made his mind.

Jumping up high to get a better range, he began emitting dozens of waves while at the same time sending signals through the connection that were appearing. Sigmitons started running towards him from all around. Almost at the apex of his jump, he got above the rubble and cast a glance at the Wyrm, and gasped.

The Wyrm had grown even more, and grey metallic spikes covered its back. Blue lightning rippled between the spikes, accelerating with every jump. Just as he was about to fall below the point he could see across the rubble, the lightning erupted from the spikes, and a lightning bolt as thick as he was tall shot up and eviscerated a Ygdra.

I can't end that, he knew with certainty. A single of those bolts would obliterate him, and that wasn't the only problem.

Before coming, he had anticipated the plates would pose a problem, but he had hoped his improved mineral shaping skill would help with that. But the solid dull metallic plates that covering the Wyrm showed not even a trace of stone remaining.  There was nothing he could think of to penetrate them. Falling back down, the last thing he saw were dozens of red bolts of energy slam into the Wyrm's back, the body-sized bolts mere pinpricks against its massive size. The energy crackled across the plates, and their sheen increased.

They are making it stronger? he thought, staring at the mountain of debris without truly seeing it.  A moment later, he landed atop a large pile of rubble. Now that he was still and the air no longer flew across his ears, he realized he could hear a soft, high-pitched sound.

Focusing, he listened to the soft crooning noise, almost singing, that came from the direction of the Wyrm.  A host of images and concepts suddenly played through his mind, enough to force him down on a knee. One image was clearer than the others, that of a female ancient with odd green hair and a fishtail, and with it came the knowledge of a strange concept.

It's luring them!

He knew it without a doubt. The Wyrm was luring the Ygdra's, and from what he had just seen, it had to be to increase its power. But why was it killing them? Perhaps instinct? A flicker from the dozens of small connections distracted him, and he raised his head.

A few dozen Sigmitons were climbing up towards him, and he pushed the thoughts of the Wyrm away. Those would have to wait.

Seeing them look at him, their eye-sockets burning with dim green light, he sighed. Now what? He didn't feel like ending them, but if he left them here, they would be as good as ended. As he looked at them close in, an idea popped into his head.

Looking around, he saw one of the many downed Wyrm carcasses. Sigmitons were scouring it too, slashing at the side and trying to dig their way in to get to the mana-orb. Jumping forward, crushing the plate he had been standing on, Solus flew towards them. He landed in their midsts, the shockwave of his landing smashing three.

Two more stood at the side of the Wyrm, staring at him with green glowing eye sockets. They seemed uncertain how to react.

Solus shouted at them, a wave of air snapping the bones that made up their bodies, causing them to crack and tear apart. Feeling a slight wrack of guilt, he pushed it away and picked the mana-orbs from their remains.

When he had all of them, he focused on the connections he felt.

Come here!

He didn't get any response, but he hadn't expected one.

Turning to the Wyrm, he stared at it. It seemed so small compared to the monstrosity in the pit. Shaking his head at the oddity of comparing the two, he pinpointed the place closest to the wyrms mana-orb. Creating a stone pike, he doubled its density and rammed it inside with the green hammer. A few knocks were all it took to break apart the plates, uncovering the flesh below. He ripped it apart with his bare hands and moved inside.

Moments later, he walked back out of the fleshy cavern, a wyrm-orb in hand. He shoved it in the pockets of his leg armor without even glancing at it. This one would be enough for Sig, but just in case, he planned to get more.

But first.

A group of thirty or more Sigmitons stood before him, precariously balancing on the broken concrete and buildings. They mutely stared at him, and he sighed. They looked so weak; he was almost afraid to get too close, lest he end them by breathing too hard.

Like the signal from before, he sent a second command, more intricate than the first. As one, small, barely overlapping manafields came into view. They were so tiny that even as close as the Sigmitons stood together, the fields didn't overlap.

So small, Solus thought, before shaking his head and commencing his plan. One after another, he inscribed his basic skeleton pattern on them.

When he finished with the last one, he climbed up the side of the nearest destroyed building. Although it might be dangerous to leave the sigmitons alone, he needed more mana-orbs for his plan. He hoped it would work, but he hadn't seen a single one that seemed to stand out. Not like Sig or Sumil.

---

"Try again," Solus said through clenched teeth as he stared at the group of skeletons.

"Like this?" an emotionless voice answered from all around him.

Solus let out a weary sigh.

Finally!

This must be the densest group of undead yet. It had taken forever for even a single one to succeed in speaking. Now he remembered why he had stopped gathering more Sigmitons for Skulltown. It was tedious!

"Yes. Explain to the other ones how it is done," he said, hoping the skeleton would be able to do what he wanted.

The skeleton turned, his soft voice echoing throughout the small room, while a group of almost thirty skeletons stared at it with green glowing eye sockets. Behind them, in the corner of the room, lay another group of roughly sixty sigmitons.

Solus walked out of the small building that he had made amidst the ruins. Most of it was below ground, while the part that stuck out was well hidden amongst the ruins. Focusing, he created a second building, in front of the other, deep in the ground and with a single simple entrance.

Moving inside, the sounds from outside faded, and he sighed contently. He could have created a second story below the first building, but he knew the constant chatter that would soon erupt would annoy him too much.

Looking around the room, he created two slabs of stone in the middle, then, after a moment, two more behind them. Looking through the list of basic tier evolutions, he focused on one.

> Rank B class evolution:

> Greater skeletal warrior (Strength+, Dexterity)

Nodding, he copied it on the first of the slabs. When he finished, he looked at the stone slab behind the first. This time it took him a bit longer, looking through the first list of secondary evolutions.

> Rank B class evolution:

> Skeletal brute (Strength++, Constitution)

> Requires: Any base skeletal warrior pattern

Nodding, he turned to the second pair of slabs and quickly inscribed a pattern on the first one.

> Rank B+ Class evolution:

> Skeleton mage (Intelligence++)

The last choice was by far the hardest, mainly because he feared putting something too powerful out in the wild. In the end, he still picked a class pattern above a B+ grade.

> Rank A Racial evolution:

> Skullwielder (Intelligence++, Constitution+)

> Requires: Skeletal and Mage class

Skimming the description, he nodded. He needed to be sure his plan worked, and that meant not holding back too much. Remembering the few Skullwielders he had seen in Skulltown, he knew they would make short work of the Sigmitons and even might stand a chance against any Kaots that wandered this far. Their battle capabilities versus anything made solely of bone were outstanding, especially if they could hide behind some warriors.

Feeling he had done enough, he turned around and headed back to the first building. Numerous soft voices and muted explosions came from inside, and he sighed.

He disliked this part a lot.

Stomping inside, he saw the skeletons standing in the middle, haphazardly explaining how to speak to each other.

"Quiet," he said.

His deep voice drowned out the softer projected voices, and the skeletons all turned to him.

"Master, where are we?" One of the skeletons asked, stepping forward.

"I don't have time for that right now. I awoke you with a reason!" Solus said, moving towards a small stone container at the side of the room. It opened at his approach, and he lifted out a handful of small mana-orbs.

"These are mana-orbs. If you take one, you can absorb its energy and become more powerful."

The skeletons stared at his hand, and he could feel hunger from a few of them.

"Call status in your mind," he said. Immediately halve of the skeletons mumbled the word out loud, and he sighed.

"There are two numbers on there," he said, drawing two numbers on the wall beside him. "Probably something like this, divided by a stripe."

A host of questions filled the room, but he just raised his voice a bit, booming over them.

"When you absorb one of the orbs, the first number will increase until it's as high as the second. When it does, you are ready to evolve. Now, follow me!"

Turning around, he moved back to the other building. Moments later, he stood between the first two tablets, with the sigmiton turned skeletons in front of him.

"These patterns will allow you to evolve! Half of you pick this one," he pointed at the tablet with the Skeleton Warrior pattern. "the other half select this one. After you evolve, call status again. The second number will have changed. Absorb more orbs until they are equal again and come back here."

He took a step back and pointed at the second pair of tablets.

"The second time you can evolve, use the pattern behind the initial tablet. Don't," and Solus pointed from the front left to the one behind the right one, "go from this one to that. You will end if you do."

Waiting for a second, he knew most wouldn't have gotten it all. But he also remembered a way to prevent him having to explain it a dozen times. He needed to thank Sumil for that when he saw her again.

"Who of you understood all of that? Raise your arms if you did."

Only two arms rose, and he looked at both. "Both of you pick this one as the first evolution," he said, pointing at the mage-pattern. "Now, go and explain to the others what they have to do. More skeletons will wake up in the first room. When they do, explain all of this to them."

It took only a little while longer to get the two skeletons to understand, and he was surprised at their intelligence. They hadn't been any faster with learning to speak, but somehow they grasped what he had just said just fine.

Almost done, he thought.

The hard part would come after he left here, but he tried not to think about that for now.

"After you have evolved, or when the orbs are all gone, search throughout these ruins. You will find many, many small skeletons that will attack you. Those are called Sigmitons."

He waited to see if he got any response, wondering if any of them remembered being Sigmitons like Sumil. When none of the skeletons spoke up, he continued. "They are dangerous, but they have mana-orbs inside their skulls. End them and use their orbs to evolve."

A host of questions came, and he raised his hand, tired of explaining. He quickly looked at the two smarter skeletons.

"Did you understand?"

Both raised their hands, and he blinked. This time he had expected them to perhaps come with questions, but instead, they were both amongst those who had remained quiet. He was almost tempted to bring them. Then he remembered what might be waiting for them if he did, and he shook his head. They would be better off here.

"I need to leave. When I get time, I will send someone. They will be able to bring you to a safe place with many undead...but only if you finish all the Sigmitons in these ruins."

He added the second part in hindsight. He needed them motivated, and that was a hard thing with skeletons from what Drys had told him. If he didn't know how emotional and volatile zombies would become, he would have left them those patterns.

Walking out of the room, he stopped in the door, remembering something.

"If you find bigger mana-stones on the sigmitons or inside the Wyrm carcasses, don't absorb them right away! Place them in the container, and only absorb them after you evolve with the second pattern! Otherwise, your bodies will explode…"

He wasn't sure if it would be that bad, but it couldn't hurt to make them weary. He had put enough effort into this plan not to want it to end with all of them dead from over-absorption. As he moved away, he heard a few soft voices behind him.

"What are Wyrms?"

"I don't know."

"I don't know either."

"Who was that?"

"I don't know."

Grinning, he took a last look at the two buildings before jumping on top of a nearby wall. It had survived partially intact, and it gave him a good overview of the area. Noting how defenseless the two buildings seemed, he focused again. The rubble around them shivered and rumbled, dust falling away as a wall formed around the two buildings, a single exit in the middle. It was lower than the surrounding debris, and something might jump over, but he was afraid making it higher would just draw unwanted attention.

Good luck. You will need it, he thought before jumping away. He hoped this would solve the massive Sigmiton infestation, or at least slow it down. If not, he would need to solve it later. He had no more time left.

He didn't even look at the massive Wyrm again. The whole idea of fighting against it seemed so farfetched he didn't even bother contemplating it.

Now how am I going to get Scathia to do what I want? he thought, fearful of the answer.