*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Nooohhh! Want sleep. It can't be morning yet.

Opening one eye to check the alarm clock across the room, proved that hope false, and the alarm as always was correct. Mondays were the worst day of the week. It started with Physics, Chemistry, and ended with Psychology. It had seemed like a good idea to put all the science classes on one day, but it wasn't. They were all two hours long and required a considerable effort.

Getting to class without a moment to spare like aways the final Monday began. It was a slog, and it had taken several tutors, but things were starting to feel more natural. Like taking notes and studying it was hard work, but it made things easier. Lunch came after Chemistry and it was a nice break from think. Grabbing a chicken finger and holding it near shoulder height, things began to spin.

Whaats happening?

There was some disconnected feeling, the lingering feeling of something different. There was some vague feeling that a horrible maw should have snatched up the food.

What am I thinking? I eat with my mouth.

Trying to brush it off as exhaustion only made it worse. There was a niggling now, a wrongness about everything. Some of the faces seemed blurred. It seemed like there was a set order of things, and holding the chicken like that hadn't been a part of the original order. Things were weird, but that thought wouldn't do. It wasn't a part of the original order either.

Psychology was next. It was about reality, and how we can't say for certain that what we call reality is even real. It could be a simulation created by a much more advanced society for an unknown purpose. Apparently this idea had caught on fire the last few days, and strange things had been happening. Like an entire city had disappeared seemingly overnight. There were no signs of panic or evacuation just poof, they were gone.

People were beginning to believe it was the end of times.

Class ended and it felt like something was forgotten. Then the four boys showed up.

Ah I remember they want to kick my ass.

They had been suspended for... Something everything was strangely hazy now.

But they are mad at me right.

The one that must have been the leader said, "Grab him."

Things felt shaky again.

Who is him?

At their threatening motions, muscle memory kicked in and Stygian tried to summon up A Knight's Fork. Things began to crumble away.

What am I doing? Who is Stygian? Who am I?

The bug, no the boy wanted to run away. That's what had happened before. It, no he had to follow the order. He couldn't remember what happened after that. What happened?

Then everything was falling apart, and then...

Stygian woke with a jolt. That had been a strange... Dream? Maybe, but it didn't feel like a dream. The bug wanted to say memory, but if so then whose was it? It jumped around and skipped oddly. It felt like the bug was just a passenger. That someone else was in the dream-memory too.

Shaking off the odd feelings, Stygian looked around and was confused. The bug was apparently in some kind of glass box with a small landscape and some smaller bugs. It was like a non-magical version of the psylings garden. Which made Stygian want to visit its own garden, and experiment. The mosquitoes-wasps could go for a round of mutations, and the host-worm's too. Stygian was getting excited experimenting was always fun and it would be a nice time killer.

Except the bug wanted to figure out what was happening before it got lost in the fun- I mean science, of its job. The psyling felt a bit sluggish. Had it just fought that tree thing? Yes that had certainly happened the bug was still acky from all the exertion.

Theen there was a pleasant walk with Vae, and... Waait! Where is Vaae?

Our overprotective knight searched the glass enclosure. Top to bottom, and then bottom to top. Stygian tried to search around with its psychic ability.

Warning the use of skills, spells, and other abilities are currently blocked. Connections to threads are currently suspended by an unknown force.

That was deeply unsettling, and frustrating. Just how powerful was Tekanis. What if the powers never never came back. Stygian just got some of those. Blocked didn't sound so bad, there were runes that were supposed to keep things mundane. Great for experimenting without that fickle mistress that likes to shift and change how it reacts. Removing a variable is always preferable.

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Sidetracked aside Stygian began to remember the encounter with that human. It was quite short, and definitely not very sweet. Stygian was reluctant to connect the towering figure with bulging muscles to the dreaded Tekanis the Woods had spoke of, but fuck. That man radiated power like the sun radiates light. With a look and a wave of his hand Stygian and Vae hit the ground so fast that both passed out. Though they didn't know it, they both suffered the effects of rapid acceleration and a sudden stop. It caused their brains to rattle and both were knocked out almost immediately. It was the same effect as punching someone hard in the jaw, but far more intimidating.

Tekanis used a combination of gravity and earth threads. He made the ground ripple outwards launching the duo up into the air. Then as soon as they were in the air, Tekanis used gravity to pull them back down, fast. Tekanis is a phenomenal wizard, but even still, it is impossible for him to have a spell or skill for every single thread he is bonded to. Well he doesn't need spells for every thread no wizard really does. It is possible to fire something like an energy bolt, but with characteristics of thread. It is also possible to change out or use a different type of energy in a spell to give it a different effect. Basically what it boils down to is Tekanis access to so many threads that, at a certain point it is more useful to just use generic spells and change out the energy to alter the effect then learn entirely new spell. This was Tekanis and wizards of his ilk can still focus on their favorite threads, and still be considered well rounded.

Stygian still astonished at the recollection and trapped in the glass enclosure, couldn't do much more than sit and wait. So the bug waited, and waited. Finally getting a bit frustrated at the lack of action, the bug decided to strike the glass. Knowing it was a stupid move the bug wasn't surprised at being stopped a centimeter before the glass, not at the accompaning shock.

The bug was hoping some kind of alarm would sound and alert Tekanis. He captured the bug for a reason right? It would be useful to find out what it was soon rather than later. Unfortunately, it seemed like the bug would have to do more than that to get the wizards attention. Gritting it's chelicerae Stygian punch three more times, each shock worse than the last, but still no alarm.

The bug puzzled by the situation sat a thought about what it should do. Then an idea started to take form, a stupid dangerous idea, that just might mean freedom. Stygian tried to activate repulse.

Warning the use of skills, spells, and other abilities are currently blocked. Connections to threads are currently suspended by an unknown force.

The bug read and reread the prompt. It was vague, but it seemed that Tekanis hadn't blocked sins. More specifically gluttony. Stygian knew from experience that it was very hard to restrain or even restrict sins with other skills. While Tekanis might be able to do it, that depended upon him knowing about Stygian's sins, and why would he? Stygian showed no outward signs of being a sinner, so its plan might be worth a shot.

Already regretting this plan, Stygian began to assault the glass, or more accurately the barrier protecting the glass. Every punch hurt more than the last, and the pain made it hard to concentrate. Our bug was trying to use gluttony to pull the energy from the discharge and by extension the barrier away. All of it away, so that it could break the glass without being shocked. Unfortunately, the shock only lasted a moment and the pain made it hard to latch on to it.

Stygian stopped and scratched its head with a tentacle, this was turning out to be harder than the bug thought. If it could prolong the shock then it might be able to grab hold of the energy, but the bug didn't have enough limbs to do that. Stygian stopped scratching and looked at the tentacles. The only reason they moved as well as the did was because of the skill shapeshifting. If it had been disabled then at the very least they should be moving sluggishly, but they were just fine.

Maybe because it's a passive skill it wasn't affected. The bug dared to hope, as it tried to shift its own flesh. To the psyling's immense relief it worked. The bug split each tentacle into five and positioned them so the could cascade, hitting one after the other. It took two cycles of the cascade, but Stygian finally managed to hold on through the pain. The bug yanked the energy as hard as it mentally could and a tidal wave of energy crashed over the bug threatening to break its grasp. Stygian held on, but just barely. Feeling more energy surging behind the first wave, Stygian realized that it wouldn't be able to hold on through a second wave.

Frantically, Stygian began to punch at the glass, this time going right through the barrier. After five punches the glass cracked, and two more finished the job. Releasing the energy as the bug jumped through the hole the bug breathed a sigh of relief. That was too close for comfort. Stygian looked around the hall and saw a staircase leading up on the left, and door leaking light on right. Hoping that the light was coming from outside Stygian moved to the door.

It was slightly ajar so Stygian peered inside. The room was barren and the only thing inside was Tekanis. Thankful he was in some kind of trance. He was sitting cross-legged floating surrounded by a pure white aura, and hundreds of undulating threads. Stygian was baffled, the bugs center was filled with a similar sight, but these were full bonded threads. Something that should have been quite impossible, wizards of legends had twenty or so threads. This was just excessive. Stygian turned quickly and quietly, before sprinting to the other end of the hall.

There was a small part of Stygian that wanted to take a piece of Tekanis and eat it. It would surely boost its own magical abilities, but it felt suicidal to enter that room. So Stygian began to climb up the stairs that were a fair bit taller than the bug. Reaching the next floor Stygian saw a window and rush towards it. The deväk wanted out staying around someone of that much power was asking for trouble. Breaking the window and jumping into the forest, Stygian continued running.

Stygian tried to use its psychic aptitude, but its threads were still suspended. Tekanis must have done something more permanent than Stygian had realized. Concerned and frustrated Stygian slowed to a walk and tried to access its garden. Apparently skills were no longer restricted, because Stygian appeared in the garden just fine. The longer our bug walked the more confused it got. Why would Tekanis capture the bug and not just kill it? It didn't make any sense, and why would he then leave the bug alone and meditate? Wasn't that just asking for the bug to escape? Unless he was just that arrogant, it didn't add up.