෴Wilson෴

෴Raven෴

෴Rex෴

෴Rhino෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Dealing With the Devil

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

  At an undisclosed semi-rural area with good visibility and multiple egress routes, a WD40 combat team was deployed and in position awaiting an arrival.

  Wilson stood there on a pair of crutches in the open lot, with a heavily reinforced steel box not much larger than a big pet crate in front of him. He looked like he’d seen better days. His face was swollen and lumpy, his nose in a splint. The compression bandage around his ribs was partly covered by his open windbreaker. A new fiberglass cast on one leg completed the look of someone having been more than a little tuned up.

  Rex checked his backup snipers had reached their positions and keyed the mic, “Overwatch up.”

  Wilson clicked the mic once in acknowledgement. Raven watched over the scene through multiple drones deployed in the area.

  Rhino crouched behind cover nearby, hoping he wouldn’t be needed.

  Raven opened a private channel to Wilson. “Are you sure you don’t want someone else to do the Handoff? You’re not exactly at 100%.”

  “No, they’ve seen my face before, not letting them get any other pictures. That's why everyone is in full gear and masked up today.” he paused and took a slightly painful breath. “Just be sure to back me up if they try anything.” his words sounded mumbled and indistinct.

  “You got it partner. Although…” she trailed off.

  “Talking kind of hurts right now, spit it out.” he mumbled.

  “I know you said it’s necessary, but I don’t like this.”

  He frowned and grunted in discomfort. “Yeah. I don’t like it either. If you’ve got a better idea that solves our problems, I’m all ears until they get here.”

  Raven sounded frustrated. “I don’t have a better answer, but I can’t believe we’re just going to sell someone. It feels wrong.”

  “We’re not selling her. Don’t for a second think the irony of the situation escapes me. This isn’t selling, we’re just collecting a legal bounty on a wanted criminal.” he replied.

  Rex spoke over the main comms “I have eyes on the buyer vehicle.”

  “You and I know that bounty or not, we’re just selling her to them for whatever fucked up thing they want to do to people just like us.” Raven insisted.

  Wilson shook his head. “We don’t know that, and we’re not in a position to be so picky. Besides, are you really saying it's worse to be in their custody than ours? After she trashed that holding cell, we’ve had to keep her bound the whole time! Keep a prisoner in that kind of heavy restraint for too long, and we might as well kill her ourselves!”

  The unmarked gray box truck pulled up in the lot near the large crate.

  Wilson keyed his private line to Raven. “Further, we can’t manage this prisoner without Chrome or Triton. We need the money, they pay the bounty, and we can’t keep her anyway. I don’t see another option. Doesn’t matter though, they're here now, so it’s not like we can change our minds at this point.”

  He glanced around and then hit the main comms. “No more chatter. Keep an eye out for anything unusual. This is too big a payout to get sloppy!”

  The back of the truck opened. Two men rode the lift gate to the ground. They were conspicuously unarmed. One of them approached the crate, the other carried a satchel over to Wilson.

  “By the authority of the—” the man began with a pompous bearing before Wilson cut him off.

  “Shut up. Just verify the prisoner ID and pay me.”

  The man looked back at the other, who was looking through an opening in the cage. He nodded.

  “Very well. Here is your legal bounty, this never happened.”

  The man set the satchel down where Wilson indicated.

  The two men loaded the crate and closed up the truck. As they drove away Wilson allowed himself to relax a bit.

  “Oh folks, let’s get that bag scanned for all the standard government tricks, and if it checks out, the first round’s on me.”

෴Raz෴

෴Midnight෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Field Trip

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

  “We’re going to take a little field trip.” The older man said.

  Without a sound, the car leaped at Midnight, transforming and engulfing him in his iconic glossy black armor in under a second. The armor formed fully, then flowed away from his head. “I can’t be seen flying away from her place, bringing that kind of extra scrutiny onto her would be bad opsec.”

  Raz winced. “That just looks scary and a little uncomfortable.”

  “What does?” He looked confused.

  “Uh, when the car just jumps at you and then wraps you up.”

  Midnight chuckled. “Ok, I get that. Well, good news. I might suck at the artistic side, but if what I want to do is gently catch someone in the middle of a fall, and enclose them in a protective shell, or catch a flying grenade, then hold it in place with a vent to shape the explosive, I can do that in a blink. I just can’t control exactly what it will look like, or how it will approach the problem.”

  Raz looked around again, “Yeah, that makes sense. Still kind of crazy to watch it happen. Where exactly are we going?”

  Midnight advanced toward him. “I’ve got a few places in mind. We’ll see what the weather is like. Plug your ears.”

  “My ears?”

  “I’m going to carry you a long way, very fast. It’s not a ride anyone gives five stars. The noise is a big part of it. This will be a short flight, there’s enough air inside for you the whole way there. Seriously, wet your fingers, and plug your ears good and tight.”

  Enough air inside what?

  Raz looked at him dubiously but plugged his ears. Without another word, Midnight surrounded him from head to toe in what felt like a steel coffin.

  Ok this is already no fun. If he did want to kill me, it would be all too easy.

  He couldn’t move, could barely breathe. A sudden sense of movement, then he felt very heavy. The G force ramped up until he could scarcely withstand it then leveled off. The roaring sound was immensely loud even through his plugged ears. The noise seemed to penetrate his bones and fill his entire head. The metal surrounding him grew warm, then cold, then heated up again. Just as Raz was about to start freaking out, the sensation of lateral motion became one of freefall.

  The metal encasing his head flowed away. His first breath told him they were somewhere very different. The air felt cold and very dry in his nose and throat. A sharp contrast from the muggy heat of Atlanta weather. The metal that encased his upper body slipped away so abruptly it left him disoriented. He looked down and realized they were still very high off the ground, falling fast.

  As far as he could see they were surrounded by a barren landscape of tan rocky peaks and reddish tan rocky valleys. He couldn't see a sign of human civilization in sight. “We are still on Earth right?” He shouted over the wind.

  Midnight let out a surprised laugh. “I know you’re kidding, but yes, and I can see why you’d compare this area to Mars or something.”

  They touched down gently. Midnight pulled the metal back into his suit. “First thing’s first, look around for anything hostile.”

  “What would hostile look like?” Raz replied, looking around them nervously.

  “If it doesn’t look right, or it’s coming toward us, it’s probably hostile. I’m not used to being here without—well, help.”

  Raz looked around them. He almost overlooked it, then glanced back at the oddly fuzzy spot on the side of the hill nearby. He focused on the spot. The strange blurred field wavered and then collapsed under his gaze. Under the concealment was a coiled snake. Its proportions were all wrong. He ranged it at approximately five hundred and forty feet away.

  Something about this perspective or my perception has to be fooling me. Snakes don’t get that big.

  The snake lazily uncoiled and faced them. It began to slither toward them with a slow, almost leisurely pace. Its size made that pace eat up the distance between them far too fast for Raz’s comfort.

  “Would that snake count?” He asked.

  Midnight looked around. “Snake? If it looks normal then probably not.” He scanned the ground nearby.

  Raz pointed at the snake. “Right there! It’s coming toward us. Holy shit it’s bigger than I thought.”

  The snake drew closer. Raz realized the distant hillside had actually tricked him into thinking it was much smaller than it was. Now that it was within four hundred feet, he could tell its body was roughly six feet across at the thickest point, with its head being nearly as broad. The spiky backwards facing horns in a ring around its head gave it a demonic appearance.

  “Seriously, what are we going to do here? That chimera is getting closer.” He asked moving so Midnight was between him and the monster snake. Midnight glanced in the direction of Raz’s pointing finger, but then looked away immediately.

  Midnight looked at him curiously, “There won't be any chimeras out here. Just keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. I’m going to show you what I do and why, and give you a chance to show me what you can do. If we run into any of the incursion beasts, I’ll let you handle them if you can, and if not, I’ll deal with them.”

  The devil snake was now two hundred feet out and closing. Raz pointed right at it. “That snake, right there. Longer than a semi truck, almost as wide as I am tall? I cannot fight that.”

  Midnight blinked. “Are you saying you seriously see a snake?”

  [He probably cannot see it. There is some kind of active stealth effect in play. There may be a blunt perceptual aversion component to the obfuscation. Also, it looks like it’s planning to rush us when it gets close enough.]

  “You probably can’t see it, but can we get back in the air right away?” Raz asked.

  “Just point me at it, I’ll handle it.” Midnight assured him confidently.

  “I am literally pointing at it right now.” Raz could feel himself starting to edge toward panic. It was clear that this snake would be faster than his best run without even trying.

  [Suggestion: Use Send to allow him to see what you’re seeing.]

  Yes, do that!

  “Keep looking!” Raz kept pointing at the snake as it reared up, its head nearly the size of a small car.

  Midnight looked at him. “Why are you trying to access me? What are you trying to do?”

  “I’m trying to show you what I see! Let me show you!” Raz pleaded.

  “Alright, let's see, visual data only. Ok, looks harmless enough I’ll check it ou—what the!?” He jumped back at the sight.

  To his credit, Midnight may have jumped, startled by the sudden sight of the giant serpent looming above them, but he recovered and immediately went on the attack. He launched himself at the snake’s head, multiple blade and spear tipped arms smoothly emerging from his armor.

  Raz forced himself to turn away from the battle just long enough to make sure there wasn’t something else sneaking up on him. The instant he turned away, Midnight called out.

  “Hey! I can’t see it anymore!”

  Raz snapped his gaze back to the giant serpent just as it slammed its head down onto Midnight from above. The forceful blow slapped Midnight down like a bug. The black armored figure caught himself on a series of new metal legs and pseudopods emerging from his armor. The metal protrusions cushioned his landing, but he still hit the ground hard with an audible grunt and flying sparks. “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!” he grunted out as he picked himself back up on metal stabilizing legs and moved back into the fight.

  Raz didn’t want to get any closer, but found himself edging closer to stay with the moving battle.

  Nearly as abruptly as it had started, the snake ended the fight. It struck at Midnight, catching him in its mouth and enclosing him in its cavernous maw.

  I’d really like one of her rifles right now. Or better yet, a missile launcher.

  A second later, spikes and blades burst out of various points on the snake’s head. Those same jagged protrusions merged and became a smooth, glittering, razor-edged loop that quickly closed inward, severing the head a few feet down from the back of the enormous jaws with a wet sound.

  The head fell to the ground with a thump Raz could hear and feel in his feet.

  A moment later Midnight had extricated himself and somehow caused his armor to shed all the snake saliva and blood as he disengaged himself from the head and mouth. Raz approached the corpse.

  Midnight looked around them again. “Sorry about that. I was in this area just last week and it was just a few lizard-rabbit looking things. Those ones aren't even aggressive unless you make them feel threatened or trapped.”

  Or they were here all along, and just didn't attack you.

  Raz looked at the fangs, each glistening white tooth the length and thickness of one of his legs and shuddered slightly. “You know, I thought I was ok with snakes, but this, this is not ok.” he muttered to himself as he gave the severed head a wide berth and went to look at the rest of the snake.

  He reached out and gingerly touched the scaled body. It was surprisingly warm to the touch. To his surprise, he received an analyse prompt.

  I guess this is another case where I shouldn't analyse it?

  [This is not a chimera. You should definitely analyse it. Also, as your only available weapon is those gauntlets, you should probably put them on. Do you wish to run a subtle, fast, thorough, or aggressive analysis?]

  Raz realized to his chagrin that the gauntlets were still clipped to his belt. Yeah, that’s a good point. Not that it would have mattered against this thing. Oh, did we still get capacity just for being in the fight?

  [Yes. This would be extra capacity and information about this creature.]

  He pulled the gauntlets on and looked around. Midnight was standing over at the head looking at the giant fangs. Raz didn’t spot anything else that looked amiss.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Let’s go with a thorough analysis. While that happens, you can tell me about the analysis modes.

  Raz leaned against the massive serpent and pressed his arm against its skin.

  [Thorough will attempt to extract all possible capacity and structural information from a target, as well as indicating the presence of catalyst deposits.]

  Catalyst deposits in people? Or creatures?

  [Yes. Just like you have one inside you that stores your onboard catalyst.]

  Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense. So someone could kill me and take it? That doesn’t make me feel good.

  [In that case, I recommend you not allow yourself to be killed.] A subtle sarcastic feeling permeated the message.

  [Analysis is complete with errors. My understanding of this error is that Midnight delivered all the lethal damage alone. It appears we are credited with penetrating its stealth ability and nothing more.]

  Well, that’s not wrong. What does it mean for us?

  [We can only gain minimal capacity from this analysis. However, the analysis has completed. Capacity successfully gained, and I can confirm it has a catalyst reservoir.]

  Where is it? Also that’s not fair. We totally helped. He couldn't even see it without us.

  [Agreed. However this works, whatever the rules are, does not seem to view support abilities with the same value as direct damage.]

  [As for the catalyst reservoir, examine its head, it should be at the base of one of the horns. Look for a thickened spot in the skin. You’ll need to cut it open.]

  Raz walked over to Midnight, who was standing by the severed head, examining the giant fang he’d ripped out of the snake’s mouth. “This snake is really something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so large. That camouflage ability was scary.” Midnight thought aloud as he studied the fang.

  Midnight trailed off and then muttered under his breath. “I wonder how big it was when it came through.”

  Raz frowned. “Yeah, it was pretty scary. Even more so if you’re not in armor, and the guy who’s fully armored and indestructible can’t see it.”

  Midnight nodded, “You’re right. This was a bad idea. I shouldn't have brought you here. I was hoping I could help you get some experience so if you needed help with your chain I could help out.”

  “Good idea, but maybe not the best execution. I cannot fight one of those things as I am.”

  Midnight looked him up and down. “That reminds me, what kind of combat ability do you have?”

  Ran sighed. “Nothing. I don’t have any actual combat abilities yet.”

  Midnight chuckled, “No no, they won't actually be called combat abilities, I’m just asking about abilities specifically based around fighting. Almost every chain has at least one ability with combat applications.”

  Raz looked around them for threats again. “Yeah, no, I get what you’re saying. I actually do have an ability called combat. It just doesn't do much—” He paused and thought about all the uses he’d put his procedural chains to, and the utility of even the level zero ballistic projection. “Well, I shouldn’t say that. It does help in a fight, but less than a lot of abilities would.”

  Midnight smiled and nodded. “Don’t feel bad. A lot of abilities don't really come into their own until you have the right other abilities to go with them.”

  Raz glanced at the snake head. “That’s good advice. For now, any chance you have a knife I could use?”

  “No. Sorry.” Midnight said with a mischievous smile.

  Raz sighed, “Yeah, I should have—”

  Midnight spoke over him. “However, I do know how to make a couple of knives. How about a custom Seax? That’s probably my best one. Let me see your hand.” Raz held up his gloved hand.

  Midnight visually inspected the fingers and joints then laid a bare finger on the glove. “Where did you get these? I haven’t seen an alloy like this since…” His eyes narrowed as he trailed off, then shook his head.

  “Never mind that. Anyway, do you have the rest of this set?”

  “There's no set, it’s just these gauntlets.”

  Midnight continued to look at them while he ran his fingers along the surface. “I could be wrong, but I think these gloves are meant as part of a system. Do you have some kind of tool or other connecting pieces you use with them?”

  Raz shook his head no.

  Midnight looked at Raz, then the glove, then back at Raz before returning his attention to the intricate gauntlets. “Why do I have this feeling I wouldn’t get a good answer if I asked where you got these?”

  Raz shrugged. “I stole them from Braithwaite’s place. That good enough?”

  Midnight smiled faintly. “I stand corrected. In any case, I think these are meant to connect to, or grip onto something. Look at the pattern of these tiny ridges and matching inset cuts. They don’t look like they’d get in the way of normal use, but to me, they look like they’d give you excellent control of an oblong shaft with matching ridges and grooves cut into it.”

  He ran his bare fingers along the ridges, humming to himself. A long knife that was more of a shortsword than a knife oozed out of the cuff of Midnight’s armor into his palm. “Simple, but doesn't have too many curves or decor for me to mess up. This was one of the first real things I practiced making with metal shaping. It’s better to have something for self defense than nothing.”

  Raz took it and walked back to the snake head. “I just need it as a tool right now.”

  Midnight called out after him, “The Seax is a perfectly good utility knife too!”

  Raz glanced at the knife on his way over to the snake. The long straight blade tapered at the end on one side to a wicked looking tip. The blade itself was simple, but not to the point of austerity. It had a thick spine with a gradual convex taper toward the edge. The blade incorporated an integral fuller, then the taper continued down to an edge that looked very sharp. The knife was clearly all one piece, with the guard and grip carrying different textures on the surface, but the same color of metal, and Raz couldn’t spot a seam anywhere. He grabbed the handle, moved his wrist around, released it, then reversed his grip on the knife. Each time he grabbed on tight, he could feel the gloves locking in, almost merging with the knife grip. Yet, when he let go of it, it came loose instantly and cleanly.

  “This is very nice. I approve.” He called out.

  Midnight started to smile before huffing. “Well thanks I guess. It was really no big deal.” he turned away as though something in the distance was very interesting. Even from where he stood by the giant snake corpse. Raz could tell he was smiling.

  After a moment Raz turned his attention back to the knife to examine it.

  [Weapon inspect 1 activated]

  [This practical weapon was forged* as a single piece of unidentified exotic alloy by Doktor Midnight from his own armor in the vicinity of the Major North American Incursion. This one is customized with grip enhancements that make accidental disarming extremely unlikely. The knife is modelled after the commonly carried and used Seax knife of the Germanic people, especially the Saxons. The Seax was an all purpose tool and—

  Raz skipped the history lesson. Be honest, how much of that was actually from Weapon Inspect?

  [Almost none of it, except that it is a knife constructed as a single piece of an unknown alloy and the grip mod.]

  Well, you dressed it up nicely. It sounded much cooler that way.

  [Thanks.]

  A short search of the back of the snake’s head revealed that one of the horns, a little shorter than the rest, had a spot like a wrinkled, raised, callus behind that horn. Raz pressed the knife into the spot. The thick hide resisted the razor edged blade. After probing around, he finally found a thin spot and was able to cut into it.

  When the knife finally slipped in far enough, he wiggled the blade slightly to further open the cut. The instant he did this, a dark brown, strong smelling, viscous, fluid sprayed out at him. Even kicking into slow time instantly he was only able to avoid most of the aromatic liquid.

  “Yuck! That is so gross.” he exclaimed, looking at his slimed arms and chest. He sniffed it.

  That’s weird. It smells a little like charcoal?

  An absorption prompt appeared.

  Are you serious? This stuff looks and feels disgusting. Is it even safe to absorb?

  [It appears to be a fairly low concentration catalyst in a solution of other materials. You don’t have much room in your storage, but topping it off from this source should be perfectly safe.]

  Not loving that level of confidence.

  [From my understanding, based on the notes I’ve found, this is the way catalyst is usually obtained.]

  I guess that makes sense. But now I’m wondering two things. First, where are the companies that sell catalyst getting it, and two, where did the damn giant snake get it?

  [Unknown.]

  Raz enabled the absorption and returned to cutting open the catalyst reservoir. Inside it he found a sort of gauzy pale thin layers of wet gray tissue. Deciding to keep them from getting more dirty, Raz pulled the gauntlets back off for this exploratory surgery.

  This is giving me flashbacks to those weird youtube videos about people who let a zit grow on them for a decade then finally go to a doctor for it. Yuck. Must. Not. Barf.

  After peeling back the many layers of what looked and felt like snot covered paper towers, he found a number of small, sharp, irregular, rock-like objects that reminded him of protein crystals he’d made in science classes, and one smooth crimson sphere.

  Any idea what this stuff is?

  [The preliminary analysis indicates they are some kind of catalyst. I have its datastream signature now. I will compare it to the notes and see if I find anything. The same was true of those smaller crystallized chunks.]

  Do I have stuff like that in my catalyst reservoir?

  [Probably.]

  Raz shuddered at that thought, then distracted himself by checking on Midnight and found him looking completely disinterested, and a little unsettled by Raz’s monster butchery. Raz shrugged and pocketed the slightly disgusting hard bits and pieces.

  I am so going to need a shower and laundry when we get back.

  Raz started wiping his hands on his pants, trying to get all the gunk off. He wasn’t sure if it was the absorption effect, but the thick liquid seemed to turn into a flakey powder as he rubbed at it. The powder easily fell off, leaving his skin not exactly clean, but at least not covered in monster snot anymore.

  Midnight noticed him putting the gloves back on, and wandered over to him. “Do I even want to know why you cut into it?”

  Raz pushed down his reflex to hide the truth. “I wanted to see what it had in its catalyst storage.”

  Midnight made a disgusted face. “Well that’s pretty gross. Do you need some catalyst? If you do, you can just ask. No need to be rooting around in those booger bags. I mean, that’s where it all comes from, but it’s still kind of gross in the raw.”

  Raz thought about what he’d just absorbed, the partial vial in his pocket, and the other vials at Sia’s place. “You’re not wrong about how nasty it is. But I think I’m good. Thanks though.”

  Midnight shrugged. “No worries. Once things get going, getting catalyst itself is usually the easy part. Getting the experience, and then making sure you pick the right abilities before the catalyst stops working for you are the main thing.”

  Raz scanned the rocky terrain around them again. “So what’s next here?”

  Midnight glanced around them, then at the sun. “We’re going to move up the hill toward where this big guy came from. After that, well, I figure we give it a few minutes and see if any more incursion animals show up. If the right animal comes along, I’d like to give you a chance to fight it.”

  “A lot smaller, I hope. Like I said, I don’t really have a combat related ability.”

  Midnight grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll back you up, and you’ve got your gloves and that knife. But if you don’t feel up to handling whatever shows up, just say the word.”

  Raz felt a little better about that, although the situation still didn’t sit well with him.

  And this is why we need to get done with Somatic Restoration and get something that will actually do some damage. On that note, he just implied that at some point, catalyst stops working. I think this might be like the slot count thing. If there is a maximum number of abilities I can ever get, we need to start getting a lot more strategic about it.

  [There was no sign of deception, but the idea of catalyst no longer working is not corroborated by existing note data. However, there are mentions to higher, and additional requirements over time. Requirements for what, I do not know, but there is an implication that ability cost does go up at a certain point, and again later on. These are referred to as major ability tiers.]

  Is there any info on how to tell if you’re getting close to that limit? Do you think there really is one?

  [With as many trees as exist, and the power gains from synergized trees, it seems reasonable there would have to be some upper limit.]

  Raz spotted something cresting a distant hill. It looked vaguely like a scaley rat with horns and a spiked knob at the end of a long muscular tail. It looked a lot like something the snake would have eaten. The ratlike thing sniffed along the ground with an elongated piggish snout. It was meandering its way in their direction. As it drew nearer, the scale was clearer. This lizard-rat looked to be around the same height as a very large dog or pony. With its greater breadth and length, Raz estimated its overall mass was more like that of a horse, or a large bear.

  That’s a comparison I didn’t need in my head as I plan to fight it with just a knife!

  Raz pointed it out to Midnight, who squinted in that direction.

  “So, what abilities do you have?” He asked the older man.

  Midnight chuckled. “I wondered when you’d ask. Sorry to say, that isn't a question I’ll answer. Except to say that for every ability, there is at least one other ability that can defeat or neutralize it. The world doesn’t need a bunch of people like—” he raised his fingers in air quotes. “Doktor Midnight” with a roll of his eyes. “Humanity needs people choosing their own path, and maximizing their potential in as many ways as possible.”

  He saw Raz’s frustrated expression and smiled, “Trust me on this, it’s not information that would help you. If you want to talk about generalities some time, maybe we can, but right now let me give you a piece of advice, think about what you want to be able to accomplish, and go after abilities that support those goals.”

  Uh, be strong enough that I can live my own life? I think I need a better goal.

  He paused and then continued. “Oh, there is some advice I can give you. But take it with plenty of salt. You know what they say, people only really give two kinds of advice.”

  Another of Dad’s sayings.

  Raz nodded. “Yep, it’s all some version of ‘do what I did!’ or ‘don’t do what I did!’ when people give advice.”

  Midnight smiled, a broad open grin that spoke of real happiness. “Exactly. So here’s my advice that at least tries to be better than that. Proceed with bold caution. The world isn’t in a place and time that allows for careful plotting. Figure out your plan, and move on it. Don’t be afraid to bleed for what you want. Ideally, toughen up so you don’t bleed too much. Get as many ability chains as you can. Each chain you graduate from gives you some extra benefits. I’d hate to call them hidden, but the benefits I mean are not actually in the chain.”

  Speaking of other trees, how's the search for a good general purpose physical enhancement tree coming?

  [I am still seeking one that matches the criteria you keep thinking about.]

  Good deal.

  [It would help if you didn’t make your criteria a moving target.]

  Sorry not sorry bud, I keep thinking of other things I want and want to avoid. I’m not going to be that guy that breaks himself. If there’s an upper limit on catalyst use, I need to make smart choices.

  Raz eyed the lizard-rat as it ambled along in their general direction. “What do you mean graduate?”

  Midnight pursed his lips. “Well I guess I brought it up.” He paused and cleared his throat before continuing. “You’ll run into this eventually. When you start down an ability chain, you have to go a certain ways down it before you can start another chain. It doesn't seem to matter what abilities you go after in the chain, but you have to invest a certain amount into that chain to get out of it.” He snapped his fingers, a tinny snap of metal. “It only stops you from new chains though, you can still revisit previously initiated chains.”

  I wonder why he calls them chains?

  The lizard-rat seemed to have smelled the snake corpse. It looked around warily before speeding toward the body with a fast, low-to-the-ground, scuttling kind of motion, its wickedly spiked tail thrashing to and fro as it went. Raz sighed and checked the buckles on his gauntlets. “Are those things aggressive?” He asked, eyeing the long, flexible, tail with the spiked knob that waved behind it.

  Midnight shrugged, the heavy sheath of armor soundlessly following his movements like liquid. “No idea. I’ve never seen one before.”

  Oh great.

  “Well, before I go start trouble, if you won't tell me what abilities you have, can you advise me on what abilities I should be going for?”

  Midnight shook his head. “No, I won't tell you what to do that way. If you haven't figured it out, these abilities are weapons of war. You don’t arm the populace for no reason. Standards in some areas are good, but in this type of warfare, if every soldier is exactly the same, defeating them is too easy. So if you tell me what kind of warrior you want to be, I might be able to suggest, in the most general of terms, the types of fundamentals you should pursue.” His tone and expression made it clear that he wouldn't bend on that point.

  He sighed as though making a big concession. “Actually, I should clarify, soldiers are good, but we need something different. We need something more.” He pursed his lips and let the silence hang.

  Well, what do I want? I used to want to be able to kill you, but that’s probably a bit of a conversational downer. I guess I have some thinking to do.

  “So, what is this something more? What do you mean by we?”

  Midnight frowned and shook his head. “I’ve said too much. The we? The we is the big we. Everyone. Every man, woman, child, and even every animal. That We. As for what more we need? We need more than just soldiers. We need champions.”

  Raz looked from Midnight to the lizard-rat and back again. “Oh, so like, no pressure then?”

  The older man broke into laughter. “Just do what you can.”

  The lizard-rat started to feast on the snake. Raz didn’t like the way its teeth were quite capable of easily shearing through the snake’s thick skin and scales. Midnight must have noticed that too. He motioned for Raz to hold up. Out of his glossy black armor a silvery gold long sleeved tshirt emerged. Once it had completely emerged from his armor, Midnight handed it to Raz. “Put this on.

  Raz examined it more closely and realized it was incredibly tightly woven rings of very fine metallic threads. The metal felt cool to the touch, and was much lighter than he would have expected a garment spun from metal to be, and yet it had a certain heft to it as a whole. “What is it?”

  “Put it on.” Midnight gave him a half smile. “I won't bore you with the metallurgy, but it's one of my creations. Its high temperature performance is rubbish, but in stock human temperature ranges, its yield, shear, and tensile strength are ridiculously good.”

  A far away expression complete with a wistful smile came over his face as he talked. “Mostly tungsten, titanium, lots of carbon, and a few other things that I have to cheat to get the mix to accept. It forms a molecular matrix like a diamond, that is, if diamond filament had a high modulus of flex. A sort of quasi metallic version of the carbon nanotube. Only real downside is that it starts to lose its best properties as low as 400 celsi—Sorry, and here I just said I wasn’t going to bore you. Just wear it, it’s pretty tough, no impact protection to speak of, but it should keep that thing’s claws and teeth out of you.”

  Raz slipped it on. It hung low, down to his thighs like a long night shirt. “Thanks, I was just thinking that thing doesn’t look like a fight I want. It’s what, eight, ten times my size?”

  Midnight’s smile became strained. “Eh, maybe five times your size. Yeah, it’s not ideal, but you really should try. Hard to get better experience than fighting the things that come through.”

  “Better than chimeras?” Raz asked.

  “Immensely better. They aren't even as tough as chimeras, pound for pound. They are a little smarter, but it's animal intelligence. Once you know how a given creature acts in a specific situation, you more or less know how they all will. Chimeras are all different, which can really be a pain when they get big and start to develop abilities.”

  Raz swallowed. “Chimeras can get abilities?”

  Starting to think I want some of everything. A big gun, super toughness, high mobility and utility like he has. Apparently without following his path.

  Midnight nodded. “Oh yeah. These creatures can as well. That’s probably how the snake was sort of invisible. But the abilities incursion animals get will always be the same for the same species. Chimeras, you never know what you’re going to face.”

  He looked Raz over. “So, you gonna get in there or what?”

  Raz barely suppressed a shudder. “Yeah, let's do this I guess.”

  You know what sounds great right now? Fireballs, or laser eyes, or maybe shooting blades of ice, or levitating a ten ton rock and dropping it on this thing. Almost anything that isn’t getting in a fist fight with a monster.

  [Why are you so worried? Yes, this is larger than chimeras you have fought, but he just said they are easier overall, pound for pound. His offer of backup appears genuine.]

  Uh, thanks for the pep talk I guess?

  [Seriously. You got this.]

  Raz circled around, hoping to catch it unaware.

  I don’t know. I’m just worried I’ll have a hard time with it.

  [You want to impress him.]

  What? No. I don’t care about that.

  [Sure. Of course. Silly of me to suggest it.]

  Oh shut up. No one likes a wiseass. Fine. I don’t want to look bad, is that so wrong?

  Trying his best to walk quietly on the loose rocks, Raz took his time stalking his way toward the lizard-rat’s flank. He kept the body of the serpent between him and the lizard-rat’s field of view until he could get behind it, and start his approach. When he was twenty feet behind it, he glanced back at Midnight to reassure himself of his backup. The black armored figure was gone.