COI C48
“. . . This is the other way we could share your telepathy”
“Uh? I don’t think it will work”
“Tabitha, get on with it. I already told you that I need that skill to contact you. Not mentally, but would be great if I used it as my senses”
“Had you tried it before?”
“It’s an old Circoston tradition, it’s impossible to use magic when the entire moon light you have there is Jigeram. You can see what Alga’s light did here”
“But, still”
“Trust me, you will be recklessly going out your own way with that attitude of yours”
“. . .”
“Don’t look at me like that, you still have something better to do. Like getting off this world”
Tabitha is bound with Archivist, a unique form of ritual that shamanism should have, as it is forgotten but spread to anyone who can use it. The pack ritual, a never been use oath as it helps to drive out influence besides them. Little was practice of how honorable it is to among sworn siblings, it is a mystery why it was hated, rather, no gobins actually using it except for the humanesques. Tabitha wipes off her tears where Archivist comes to her from his senses. She had forgotten about that oath, and reminds herself again by Archivist.
“Let’s first train our bind, I thought how weird that the office is where you are calling for help”
“I wasn’t, I just got emotional, that’s all”
“I only sense your presence, Tabitha. Our ritual last time is limited, both of us can’t hear out thoughts but our . . . feelings”
His last word put Tabitha in an awkward sensation, bonded in its maximum limitation, she senses his feelings to be cold. It’s been a while for both of them sensing their presence, she can’t describe why he is always cold. While he describes hers as hot when it comes to her reaction. Very different results to know each other’s presence, but it is enough for Archivist to know where she is.
They laid rest on the gallery, an indoor balcony of the guild tower, where the female guild members are resting. While men are sitting on the stairs. It is still cramped, but there is still space for Tabitha and Archivist to sit beside them. Accidentally eavesdropping from people to the other side of the seats, they keep mentioning about the sphere.
“I heard the adventurers are starting to calm down”
“Thanks to the gods, then Voldemyr . . .”
“As I said ‘heard’ not officially. Those people with the unworthies, they are still trapped there”
“There is nothing they could do, if they want to save them then they have to get them”
“We can’t even save them ourselves where we have people here disagreeing”
Other Raker Mawn members didn’t like to hear them mention about those adventurers, tolerated to their limits, and Tabitha already seeing those guys keep quiet about it. Their intent already showing form her abilities, it’s been a while to see it preserving their flames. Once she joined them, they already raise their killing intent on her, and later calms down as she showed them the card of society. She still scared by them, and one of them who hated her said.
“This is not about you”
“Uh, yeah, I know, sorry” Tilted by them suddenly said to her.
Archivist pulled her head to face him, his face is hidden as his hoody move like a mouth. His cartoon expression still made her wonder what movement does he going on with his hood.
“Let’s finish the ritual”
“This place is too tight”
“HERE”
“Oh come on, I’m getting uncomfortable where people keep badly mentioning about my people”
The guild members heard her and raised them up in the air as the two are flying above them. Where everyone sees them in the air.
“Hey! Put us down”
“Stop complaining, it’s just a conversation. Like your own people complain other things”
“But we a performing a ritual here”
They look at the both of them as they are doing a ritual, and thought she didn’t know how harmless . . . unless.
“Then do it here, rituals won’t even hurt you”
The guild members mention about not getting hurt. Archivist’s silence stood before them, as they understand differently. Tabitha don’t know how to, one of them let them lay down, but the other guild members raised them up again.
“It’s better you should try here instead, it’s nothing big except a few lights coming from you”
“. . .”
“You really need someone to get hurt while you're channeling”
Tabitha’s awkward smile shows to them, it’s already proven that adventurers had no control the limits of their prowess.
Archivist seems committed to do it, others only mind watching them to perform a ritual. Their stares keep pressuring on Tabitha’s hesitance, everyone is looking at her, and she herself had no choice but to do it. If she’s going to open her mouth, either they listen or they won’t, the other groups of people will bring it back again. Juela always come to her rescue when this kind of jokes play around on her. The guild members see the women are having fun with her, they would help her, but adding more noise echoing up or down the tower won’t be fun for the rest of the guild members.
The women start doing it, and Tabitha quickly chanting the ritual. They stop and let them be as they lay back and sit on the table. Tabitha has bad social interaction with the women here, but the men show their manners. By showing their intents that she won’t bother them, she faces them eventually out of knowing that they are not hostile and only provocative. They see the ritual bonded them both, the excess mana overwhelms him as the women tried to comfort them. The men stop the women from interfering as Archivist shows his enduring nature.
The ritual is slowly backing up where their senses are still weak. The women who beside them starts to move away that Tabitha is overdoing it. The way she did look masterful, but seems off after her release of the ritual. Archivist breaks off his posture to accept the ritual, redirects all the excess out and absorbing the proper amount. His face was shown as Tabitha focus on her incantation, the face shows grittiness and pain, through his body. A strong palm hits Tabitha’s forehead, beginning the basic pack ritual. Tabitha loses control of the incantation after that hit. Breaking off yet again and improving.
“This girl has no strong mind”
“Getting hit then loses her incantation, how godly they are and no experience whatsoever”
“Ladies, you shouldn’t dare speak like that. Archivist is enduring of it all”
Archivist starts bleeding, hidden somewhere his face as he was given healing. Tabitha felt her mind is stun from his palm, she opens her eyes and sees the glow on Archivist. Finally, it took them a while to finish it. It’s been how long they perform the ritual bit by bit. Together, they are bound and her mana is shared with him. The pack ritual gives a tremendous bind, sharing their physical experience.
Archivist twirl his fingers around and form a magic circle. It only appears and nothing happened, he was relief that the pack ritual remained impartial. Now it is finish and only the beginning. It’s enough for him and her to track each other. Everyone around them see their success, only the 1st stage. It is still difficult for Archivist to fully bind her together. The guild members clap their hands of their success. This place where meant to do magic rituals here, where most magic preparations held here only be interrupted by physical contact. As they finished their work, the guild members returned back having a conversation.
“This must the first time you are using magic in such a crowded place”
“That’s something I don’t want to do it again” Tabitha smacks Archivist head as she shouldn’t be doing it in public.
“And never bring along people to corner me again”
It wasn’t because of that reason, and her ritual is too much for him to bear. Archivist was told to go there to do it on the gallery. It has hidden magic property to balance out the magic for them to properly use. It was a success, and the guild members standing on the mana infused. They sense it upon their feet, and wonder mana hovering on it. Flowing through inside the tower, the mana of Tabitha, is used to power the building.
It’s time, the old man is collecting data for any signs of improvement. The Enders have difficulty regarding attrition, even though they are equal. Equal by power not by natural gain, spreads through the analysis of this man’s worded essay. The adventurers push continuously and recklessly through closer to the gate, that same humanoid guarding it sway them further as it now copied their abilities. There is one group of people nearly fighting it at full potential. Until their weakness derailed their process. In conclusion, the most common of weakness they have is their excess mana were recycled by them.
The sphere is already been breached at the gate, and someone is daring enough to sneak inside then got captured. However, that was enough time for him to link a portal to their base. They weren’t prepared when more machines coming to their way, forcing the stranded to be captured and the rest continue fighting. The Dexters were there who face the surprise attack, multiple times they come back after their defeat. Too close at their entrance and cheated the way they did it. Now harboring them where they won’t escape, under a landmark that can be open and written in warnings.
The adventurers wouldn’t dare as the sounds inside of that room feel ominous.
“This is taken us too long”
“The guild paid us a high price to access here”
“You mean the robotics? They want research data about them. I admit, those humanoids did a proper job doing security and self-learning”
“It seems you people starts to learn something”
The adventurers are looking at the Dexters after one of them said to them, their futuristic equipment give away as if they are wearing power armor as they carry weapons like it was recycled. McS4 and R-cord are waiting for Tabitha to come, but the incident is getting serious and now they are here with the others.
“Alright, team platinum, you didn’t expect us to go all suicide charge at you”
“Don’t even try to said to us. We already beat you many times and we did as fast as you set up your weapons”
“And now you are here wasting those equipment as we are never waste ours. Understand the rules of the sphere, the most potential uses of this place are mana and energy”
“Energy?”
“Try facing those machines again and understand why they keep backing up”
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They are starting to get it from what they meant. It’s kind of endless when they think about it, endless swarm of machines keep chasing you nonstop. Energy, that's maybe those robots' version of mana. It’s still difficult to get here.
The strange sounds appeared again in front of the enclosed shelter, and they stop arguing as it’s getting louder. The sounds of wailing spook the captive adventurers and the Dexters detect something inside. The scanner shows signs a single entity moving, the indicator spotted its location in different direction. Comparing the people around them moving around, the distance travelled between it and them is detrimental. The acts of motion from it to move fast then suddenly stops, that momentum should have clearly be there. Assuming it that it has magic made them willingly not going to open that door.
A mechanize arm breaks through the adventurer’s UI inventory as it starts moving on its own. The trace of its screeching limb made other people notice it.
“What? My loot!”
He rushed trying to get it back as he yells to his companions. The Enders saw them and began to rushed over to him. The shelter starts to lit up where its hidden compartment opens by itself. The Enders didn’t know about the UIs, as they have their inventory within their bags but not from what they have. The sounds of the alarm raised where the room lighten by dark light.
“Evacuate from the premises, smuggled machine parts are here in the vicinity”
The black light nulled their vision as it reverses their eyes’ perception, the bright light turns dark while the dark shows limited range of view. Many tried to block the entrance of the shelter, as the entity hidden behind the door as it wails. An incident occurs again, but within the sphere’s secrets. People worried among themselves, no one is shouting soon after. McS4 checks the indicator where the dots of people are merging by one big dot. He figures that much, that the unidentified creature breaks free as he can’t see in his reverse eyesight. R-cord’s monocle sees and records what is happening. He too sees in the darkness.
Relying on the sounds of its steps, multiple steps, alone and wailing none stop. Quickly taken out the people around it, leaving the survivors wondering around reaching out to them. Every word they said then later ends after, no sounds of despair and witness of its assaults. Others run left the landmark as it already beams itself up to the sky, a dark beam of light hitting the barrier’s sky and began to shroud the entire place into darkness. Enders are rushing back to their own entrances, where more attacking adventurers are coming. All of their eyesight’s reversed and relying the night vision they have in a natural way.
The unknown monster spreads through in an incredible speed, leaving the rest who survive running and escaping within their night sight. Already using their failed safe to flee as they are sensing the ominous appearing from the dark. The old man who is screening this opens a protocol, and it will reset after the incident. He first needs to close the recent programs to open it as it loads, process, finalize, and activates one at the time. Or else it will overload and reset his ancient computer and start all over again. Until then, continue the testing.
Guildmember is in the sphere waiting for the two come in. Where the entire sphere itself transform into a dark horrific environment. The machines hid within the structures and everyone who aren’t taken down is lost within the darkness. Through hearing their minds, he searched the information about the entity. Thousands wondering to this place become only by the hundreds, now to those are left, he listens through the important detail and its lore. By each individual, he heard the mind of a familiar companion. Clanking sounds after reloading the crossbow, discipline focus, and clean thoughts, the man senses relief of his survival.
“The captives’ location is where the tomb sealed, better called landmarks like the rest of this entire moon. That place is one of the abandoned remnants of the old other worlders, nothing to explain but what brought here. Same goes by the other versions of humans or any other race once entered here, but the important matter that this landmark is for the hybrids. Mingled between flesh and steel, this called man machines or cyborg is the only thing alive. Revived because of Alga’s light and the Jigeram. Thought it to believe as the grandfather for the humanoids of its nanites repairing system”
“It’s unbelievable for it to return as it still possessed controlling other operating system without its own artificial mind. Reports from the group where a robotic limb was caused to open it, its signal relayed because of its nanites. This time an old visual replica from a demonic magic is still operational, reversing their eyesight to which many people see properly at day but short sighted at night. Because the dark light beam appearing to the sky, all vision reversed as the eternal exposure of the sun and the moonlights lit this place forever”
He didn’t know when it will be reset completely, but the experience of having demonic power this early is a nice replication of it. Those people who made that landmark, the hybrids, are they just merely cybernetic demons? Guildmember gets this information through reading their minds, it is hard for him to thoroughly proven by hearing thoughts than witnessing with his own eyes. Time and time again, many starts to lose contact as they are still swiftly taken out. Until the adventurers brought up new gadgets on their side, they seem they brought in a more spiritual approach. They still don’t know about it.
R-cord had recorded a glimpse of the entity, through his monocle, he changes the settings to darken the view to near impossible to see and fits the adapting eyes among them. His eyes began to see clearly and more unsettling of its size and head. A mechanize spider with only four needle like insect legs, where the abdomen and the thorax merged together. The head, looks closely it’s a man's head without a lower jaw. It’s hard to say in the dark where the clear lightings coming from, but its speed was coming from its own magic. Lastly, it uses its needle legs to stab them where they instantly died. Very unnerving for its emotionless face suddenly moving its head for its prey.
An alert coming from his monocle as it detects Tabitha’s location, it is a signal for them to meet with her. Where they at is hiding at the corner as the entity is moving pass by them. McS4 states at the indicator, it moves predictably when someone moves slowly. Most predators mostly act that way, but when someone is running has a chance to escape until they fall down. That’s when it teleports and stabs it. That kind of behavior seems put him to study it right now.
“It’s dead and it needs fresh meat for its head”
“Worse of it all, it’s a machine that had ancient items within that big size abdomen”
On that moment, the entity hides within the darkness. Limited to see across the distance, it’s hard to believe they have experience rather facing their demise. Under R-cord’s watch, it would attract other Dexters to come along. This unforeseen entity coming from the sealed door they were assigned to shelter with. It becomes a bad idea when this incident occurs, but that’s the price for trusting those adventurers. They have secrets they never knew they had and that’s why the old man tests them. One long jump as they run, R-cord installed both of them the directives of their sphere entrance.
Running through there with limited vision as they see the obstacles in their path, stairways and walls were easily to spot, and accidentally bump into columns and statues along the way. Sturdy as it is gold to its surface, the noise of their armor collided with this gold metal rings to the entity’s notice. Out of mere silent pounce in the air, it teleported as they barely see from above. McS4 with his helm’s second vision at the back of his head sees the needle like legs coming down on them. He pushes R-cord to the side as they run.
The entity chased McS4 and left R-cord running to the entrance. While McS4 runs around to out maneuvered it, the entity ignored the obstacles as it can climb. Only left for him to do is not getting stab by it. Within the darkness he barely sees, the legs grew more once he turned and dodges. One after the other, he is in the middle of a tight corner as he slides under it. Sliding forward, through his helmet sees it disappears and he turns around and use his grappling hook to pull back to the tight corners. The entity reappears as its head is reaching towards him.
Pulling away as its head reach him without its lower jaw. Nearly jawing his head, he returns back to the entrance. Nothing else much to do to repeat the same movement as before, all things left for him is to keep going through what he can see at the courtyard. After going around for a few times in circles, he starts to run straight to the sphere’s entrance. McS4 can’t seem to find it while he was running, it’s probably found a new target. He checks his indicator and found it coming back to him. It was just a few minutes and it already finished the other one. He trips on the stair without him knowing as it already pounces down.
The entity reaches him then landed on the door. McS4 got pulled inside and tries to hide. The entity entered the room as blindly go around inside, the Enders inside used their earth magic to hide underneath. Its fast movement going around and around with its jawless head scouting around. Its dead eyes won’t be helpful to see as it desperately looking for fresh meat to heal it. It quickly runs back out as the others wait for a bit. After a few more minutes, one of them throws an empty notebook to the ground. A needle strikes it down as it landed, its clever extra legs extended from the door as it pulled outside.
Guildmember closes the door as the Enders free themselves from the invasion. The door was hit by a strong thud, but held firm. This golden place won’t that be easily broken within the Jigeram’s presence. It was a great surprised that the Dexters got back instead facing defeat.
“What the actual fuck was that!?”
Tabitha is here with Archivist, it's too much to believe something like this happened. She heard the news from Guildmember as they use telepathy one another. It takes them that long to help her to persuade herself and to continue her training like this.
It wasn’t taken them long as those two recently arrive show her the footage they gathered. Testing her bravery, she sees the abomination of the creature. Beginning of its appearance and slow motion of coverage to see its abilities, Tabitha is staring McS4 to show their proof. He walks back and forth in the distance between six meters or less, he was shrouded in darkness and appeared clearly as night. It's worse than she could have imagined, an entity that fast seems to be impossible for them to survive. Her thoughts listened to Guildmember’s advice, he said.
“When something happened like that before, there should be a modern version of it. I assume we will see it through those elves, dwarves, or demons”
“I hope it’s true, it’s not going to be that easy as I am no longer using my magic”
“I prefer you should, not in a strong amount, and use it to be useful for your survival”
Return back to the footage, the two seem have no fear of it. They look at her with her mask on, nothing changed her mind upon her silence. R-cord should have brought the life indicator to see her pulses change or even her sanity.
“Then it means we can train while facing that thing”
“I preferred we should run along with it instead of fighting”
McS4 recommends such a daring act, neither doing defensively nor offensively, just plain cat and mouse routine. Archivist appeared and agreed about their situation.
“We should do that. Tabitha, there is no telling if we might lose someday to actual enemies back in our world. Fighting will never last as we can’t face them in a long term”
“Blank head is right about my idea. We can hold longer but doesn’t mean the chance of us to survive when we got caught”
Tabitha will regret it later, the things she had to do to train as the sphere moves on without her. Many people with different goals cause this chain of events to happen, it reminds her back in her home world. No one expects it to happen, now there she is being a Raker Mawn. The door is open as the first struggle she ever face is the stairs. Moving closely where her limited sight barely sees at the front, once she sees it, she quickly walks down. Struggling to the next obstacles on the courtyard where she looks around as there is nothing in a small radius. Her team is here link together with a rope.
McS4 doubts they could reunite or even dare to say a word. All of them learn the rules of this entity’s game. One sound and it ends, or even try to fight it is still unknown. First off, comparing its introduction until now. R-cord gives the information she needs as she focuses first a place that would likely be safe when attacked. The waterways’ other routes are opened by these two Dexters. It would be safe for them to have a safehouse that won’t fit the size of that entity. This darkened place really made her to move slower than she had ever experience.
Through the tight corners of this placed they heard a voice. While Guildmember reaches something on the ground to pick it up. Archivist follows Tabitha to where the voice is coming from, a strange voice like a child is crying, and leaving the three behind.
“This is something off”
“Fluids? It should’ve cleansed away from the moons”
He continues to rub it on the ground as it begins to react. “It’s starting to learn”
“. . . That means . . .!!! . . . Tabitha!”
Tabitha is moving closer as the cries getting clearer to hear. Archivist blows the air like a sonar wave to see further to their direction.
Archivist stops her.
“What’s wrong Archivist?”
“We should leave”
“But there’s someone there. A child”
“There is no such things children allowed to be here”
The reaction of the fluids sparks dark rays around them, it reaches where the two who are checking the cry. It reaches further and sees a glimpse of the crying person, jawless. Tabitha’s mouth was covered by Archivist by the surprise of that person. Continuing to stay quiet, Archivist pulled her away. Once they got out, they steadily closing the door. McS4 fired at them across the distance, his grappling hook lock on to them and reeled away as it begins to move.
The room turns into an entity and began chasing at them. They leave the gate where the fight between Enders and the citizens fought. Running through every space they could run, as Archivist followed the rope to where they are. The stretch of the rope is getting loosen as the people at the front found walls and dead ends. Tabitha being carried couldn’t see anything as she sees more environmental blocks that never existed before.
“Hang on!”
Archivist throws her in the air, she didn’t know where she was thrown into as the place she sees can’t even recognize where she supposed to land.
Tabitha hears the Guildmember and the message received from R-cord through her UI. She raised her hand as someone is appearing in front of her in mid-air. R-cord grabs her hand and pulled her up from the balcony. Reading through the message she received, an elongated tongue nearly touches her. She uses her magic to force it out of the way. Guildmember continues to instruct her as she is being pulled up. Archivist is climbing up with the entity coming right at them. Tabitha used her magic to make a platform.
Archivist climbs up the platform as it climbs with him. Tabitha released the platform as it fell, its tongue reached one of them and Tabitha was caught by it. She was pulled down with it, Archivist breaks it off as he falls after her. Using his own abilities to throw her back up, leaving him down to the darkness. McS4 uses his grappling hook again to catch him, somehow, he grabs something but it wasn’t him as it was too heavy for him to pulled it up. Something is coming up fast as he tried to cut it off, Tabitha stops him and screams loudly
“It’s Archivist!”
He made it to the top and cut it himself. The needle legs already reached the rails as R-cord uses concussive rounds to loosen its grip. Successfully, it fell. Tabitha hugs Archivist as the team survives the attack. Archivist didn’t believe it himself
“We made it . . . I can’t believe we made it”
“We just got out from the open field”
“???”
McS4 uses his indicator and changed settings into a map. The other side of the balcony has stairs to both of their direction. The entity goes the other way as Guildmember had already goes into the secret trap door.
It was not yet over, Archivist carried her to the secret door as the two covered fire for them. Using only the indicator as where the entity is at, every shot they take no sounds of bullets hitting its steel limbs through the dark. It will be a matter of time where the entity reaches them. They split up as it reached them, R-cord was targeted as McS4 bounces off the attacks from the entity. Its needle legs didn’t pierce his weapons at it counter measure the damage of his weapons. McS4 pushes back farther away then landed into the trap door.
Leaving only R-cord behind, the entity reaches him closely. With only his gun on his side, he waited for it to strike. Aiming out from the darkness with only his natural night vision, the monocle he has doesn’t have a setting for gradually dark view. The quietness he is facing the entity as if it observing its prey. To the moment of its prepared pounce, both of them stop moving, it surprised him to the side as its jawless mouth appeared with something new on its upper jaw. R-cord disappeared as it almost lay its new fangs on him.
The team reunites once again. McS4 used the teleportation gem to bring him here, the Dexter Guild’s iconic relocation orb, an invaluable artifact found in Rune Isles. The reawaken item was used as it cost so much energy. Tabitha held it, used it, and saved him. Everyone sighs in relief as they see something new about the entity. Guildmember had said before and we will say it again. Through his mouth instead of his telepathy, they are going forth about her training.
“It’s starting to learn”