Redmane sank into nothingness.

He moved his arms as if to swim upward, and his hands indeed felt substance resisting them, as they would if one were truly underwater. But if he were moving, he could not tell. There was no visible surface above, nor bottom below.

After a time he gave up wasting energy and floated in place. Trying to think his way through the problem.

Barba used a Skill which resembled the magic of Samo, the Keeper of the Well. His System tag classified him as ‘Abyss Touched.’ This was likely to be related to the Abyssal Well in close proximity, then.

Samo melded into the shadows as if they were water. Using that trick more than twice didn’t work out for the beastman, but it at least gave Redmane a concept of what had happened to him, where he might be.

He could be down in the Well itself. Or in some space connected to it.

Perhaps he had aquatic traits in his Carnivorous Metamorph library, the better to move about in this environment…

But before he closed his eyes to go looking, he heard something. A distant voice, calling out to him.

Redmane’s first instinct was to walk toward it and, to his surprise, when he attempted to do so he found solid ground under his feet. He looked down and saw his footsteps creating shimmering ripples, as if he were walking on a solid surface an inch beneath the water.

The sound of the voice drew closer, though he couldn’t make out what was being said. It was an old woman’s voice, he thought. It was vaguely familiar.

When her figure emerged out of the dark, he knew why.

It was the old crone he’d met at Häerz Castle.

“Well met, Lord of Hunger,” said the crone.

“You…”

She smiled crookedly. “Thou findest thyself in the Abyss, I see. This is good. This is auspicious.”

“I was fighting a monster,” said Redmane. “It used some kind of Skill, which sent me here.”

“Dost thou wish to return, and complete thy heroic toil?”

Redmane thought she was using the word ‘heroic’ loosely, but he nodded all the same.

“Very well. But first, thou shouldst be made aware of the useful functions of this place. Thou art the owner of an Abyssal Well now, after all. That beast above possessed not the wit to know you, too soon he will know his own folly instead.”

The crone smiled and turned away from him. And the moment she began walking, the Abyss changed.

There was still pitch black water beneath their feet, or what looked to be water. But over their heads a vast field of stars appeared. It gave light to the Abyss, revealed that it stretched off into infinity, in every direction. Small ripples of water still emanated from their feet, but across the vastness of its otherwise still surface, the Abyss reflected the stars above like a mirror.

“What is this place,” said Redmane.

“The ground of Being,” said the crone. “The beginning and the end of all things. In this place, the barriers that divide and distinguish do weaken. Things may be discarded here, or joined.”

The crone stopped, turned and touched Redmane’s chest. His eyebrows rose in surprise as a small constellation of glowing nodes emerged from his body.

He recognized these things intuitively.

They were his Skills.

Devourer sat at the center. Branching off to the right were his Imbued Skills. To the left were the Skills he had consumed from monsters. Above this tree were two smaller clusters. One represented the catalog of animal traits surrounding Carnivorous Metamorph, and the other were the special qualities of his natural armor, claws and bite.

“Within this place, thou hast the power to shed Skills which serve thee not, and feed them to Skills thou wishes to empower,” said the crone. “Similar Skills may also be conjoined to create something new.”

“I see,” said Redmane.

He found that he could use his mind to move the nodes around. He examined them, one by one. He had many Skills now, but he didn’t see any that he wouldn’t like to keep at the moment. Each one had served him well at one point or another.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

But she said they could be ‘conjoined.’ He wanted to see what that would look like.

He took Blessing of Might and moved it onto Rockskin, to see what would happen.

—

Might of Umber

Bloodline Skill [Monstrous (Beastman)]

Rank 1 - Evolution Possible

Body Enhancement

Sustained - 20 Gnosis per 30 seconds

The Monster places the [Might of Umber] condition on itself or a nearby ally, which bestows the following enhancements:

+10 Might

+10 Grace

+10 Fortitude

+10 Armor

+10 Evasion

-Enhanced movement speed

-Immunity to Fear effects

-Enhanced Fire resistance

-Damage Ablation (50)

Creatures under the effect of [Might of Umber] cannot engage in stealth, combat with ranged weapons (unless they are thrown), or invoke Skills which require complex gestures or incantations.

CAUTION: Damage Ablation may be eliminated if a creature attacks the same target on the Monster’s body repeatedly.

—

Remarkable…

Redmane concentrated on this combination, felt the two Skills dissolve and meld into each other.

—

Skills Consumed:

Blessing of Might

Rockskin

New Skill Learned:

Might of Umber

Rank 1 - Evolution Possible

—

“Thou may return whensoever thou desires, to empower or synthesize the Skills thou dost acquire upon thy journey,” said the crone.

Redmane nodded, albeit a bit distractedly. His mind was busy playing with all the possibilities. A brief review of his Skills made him confident that he didn’t need to discard any right now, though he was curious how potent a Skill would be if he sacrificed another to empower it.

But this would be an experiment for later. It would be a shame to sacrifice a Skill, only to find himself in a situation where it would have come in handy.

He looked at the crone. “How did you know I would be here? How are you here at all?”

She let out a low, cackling laugh. “Tis merely my role. To know, and to make preparations.”

“Preparations for what?”

The crone didn’t answer. Instead she smiled, and turned to lead him onward. “Come.”

He followed her in silence for a while. Taking in the view. Running through a list of questions in his mind.

Why were you at the castle that night?

What was that seed you gave me?

Why are you helping me now?

The crone side-eyed him over her shoulder, gave him a knowing smile.

“The Numantians deem themselves higher beings,” she said. “But in sooth, they are akin to any conqueror from distant realms. They bring their own undoing with them, wheresoever they may go. All we needs must do is exploit it.”

She gestured up at the sky, and it changed.

The view zoomed in on one star in particular. Redmane’s head spun, at how fast the image seemed to move.

“It began here,” said the crone, pointing to the star.

As for what began there, she did not say. But a line of pale blue, like a trail through the void, drew itself between the star and its closest neighbor. Another line formed between the star and its next closest neighbor. Again and again this happened until the central star was the nexus of several glowing roads through space.

“Astral Highways, so they are named. Bridges 'twixt realms. Their contrivance forged Numantia into the empire it is now. Worlds rejoiced to become a part of it. If only they knew their fate…”

The first road changed color, from blue to red. The star it connected to went out, and the road faded to gray.

This happened again, to the next closest star. And the next one.

All while the central star, Numantia, continued building Astral Highways to worlds farther and farther away, at a greater rate of speed. And as it did so, the intensity of its glow grew brighter and brighter.

“What’s happening,” said Redmane. “What are you showing me.”

“The fate of all worlds touched by Numantia. Death. Barren wastes, tomb worlds all. The Numantians approach in peace, as colonists they do arrive, yet verily they come but to consume the Gnosis of whole worlds. They are devourers.”

Redmane looked at the crone, and she grinned back at him.

Something clicked into place.

The look on her face. The knowing quality of it.

“How better to fight a devourer than with a devourer?” she said.

Redmane shook his head. “Speak sense. If I am their foe, if I posed them a threat, then why did their own System free me from my shackles?”

The crone laughed. “Ah, the answer to that question will be most interesting, I expect. In truth I know not. But an old woman may speculate.”

“Speculate then. For it makes no sense to me.”

The crone stared up at Numantia for a short while. Watching the nexus of the Astral Highways pulse with power, growing brighter and brighter.

“If I were to venture mine best guess, I would say the System they wrought is no longer under their sway. And they desire not that the people should know it. Either that, or it simply is not omniscient, as they claim it to be. A third possibility is that the System doth desire its own destruction, and in thee hath it found a worthy destroyer. Whate'er the cause, it hath bestowed upon us the key to preventing our doom.”

Then the crone grinned at him again, and added, “But not without a touch of persuasion.”

Redmane raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yea, I have been making ready for this season. Awaiting the dotage of aged Abrahm Morholt, for his progeny to take flight from him. So that his young nephew Aric would be the sole one remaining at the castle with sense about him.

“And I hath been tending to a small cult that doth gather in Midva Forest to pursue their banned religious rites, ensuring they did recall the proper words to the ancient song.

“I hath minded the cave of the great black bear, to ensure he kept up his oath. And I hath clung to a special seed, for safekeeping.”

His eyes slowly widened as she confessed these things to him.

“Who are you…”

Again she didn’t answer. She had a maddening habit of not answering questions. Instead the crone just stared at him, smiling. He thought he saw a tear form at the corner of her wrinkled eye.

“I ne'er thought thou wouldst resemble him so much,” she said, and her voice shook a bit.

Then the crone reached out and touched him with her fingertip, and the world turned upside down.

Darkness enveloped him again.

He tumbled through it at speed, though it was impossible to tell down from up.

And then he gasped for air as his head broke the surface of the water.

He was back at the Abyssal Well.