"Syntinnial, what are we going to do? How can we possibly stop them?" asked Cypher, panic rising in his voice as he thought of the Order nearing Dungor. He had already caused the Order to attack and destroy one city already simply by passing through. He had been lucky enough to be able to afford repairs at that time, but a few people had still lost their lives because of it.
However, this time, he knew it wouldn't go down as simply. There would be mass casualties just like there had been in Stratos. The Order was more serious this time, more adamant about finding him. Cypher could only guess that it was because of his advancements and small victories against them.
Since their attack on Haelwin town, Cypher had grown powerful enough to stop most of the Order's weaker members. He wasn't in danger of being captured by them anymore, which required them to deploy their stronger, more ruthless forces. That much was clear from the devastation in Stratos.
He had also stopped them from breaking the seal in Sanctum, something they had not expected in the slightest, and just recently he had avoided them again in the warehouse. He had become a nuisance to them more and more in recent months and at this point, they were willing to burn entire cities to the ground just to get their hands on him, or failing that, kill him.
"Calm down Cypher. There's more than one way to travel, have a little faith in me will you?" Syntinnial pulled a small wooden sphere from within his pocket and threw it on the ground a few feet away. He then raised his hand and channeled some of his Zight into it.
The sphere began to spin rapidly after a few moments and then it exploded in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared, a small ship could be seen hovering above the ground. It was no larger than a standard carriage and Cypher looked on in curiosity.
"This is my favorite way to get around in my old age. I used to fly around everywhere but these days it's easier to just stay under the radar. Do you know what I mean?" asked Syntinnial.
Cypher shook his head, unsure of what to say. Conductors controlled the very laws of reality on a whim. It wouldn't be too absurd to see one flying through the sky. Then again, how often did an apprentice to the Guardians fly out in the open? Still, it wouldn't be like other people would realize as much, and that only fueled Cypher's confusion.
Syntinnial continued, "Eh, anyway, just go ahead and slip into that fancy armor of yours. You certainly won't have time once we get to Dungor." Cypher looked at him strangely as he mentioned Fenix's armor.
"Oh, come on I was watching you remember? I know all about it. In any event, we should hurry, there isn't much time. Oh, and you'll want to use the defense form, not the attack form. Trust me on this."
Cypher quickly equipped the Ark Cradle and activated it as Syntinnial finished speaking. There was no sense in arguing about what he did and didn't know about Cypher's powers. "What's so special about the defense form? Wouldn't it be better to go into a battle with the attack form?" asked Cypher.
"Hmm," Syntinnial thought about how to answer as they boarded his land ship. "In a one-on-one battle, you would be right. However, you're going into what is likely a warzone. There will be several Conductors trying to claim your life or inflict serious injuries. If you use the attack form you'll be capable of an amazing offensive, but you'll be left open to attack from various angles.
"Also, The defense form has a few extra special abilities. One of which is that you can control its shape and form according to your own will," finished Syntinnial. The ship had since taken off and was heading for Dungor at twice the speed Cypher had traveled on foot earlier.
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"What? Is that really possible?" asked Cypher, the wind blowing all around them as they sailed across the plain. Syntinnial nodded and continued, his speech more hurried than before.
"I can't go too in-depth since we're in a hurry but we have time on our way there to explain a little bit. You see, if you focus hard enough, the armor will respond to your whims. You can change its shape into various things, domes, pyramids, or even walls of magickal steel.
"If you can envision it, the armor will find a way to adapt and become that shape. However, since this particular set of armor belonged to your father, it might not be as capable as it would be if you had your own Ark Cradle. You don't even have his Ark to go with it, which would help quite a bit."
Cypher's thoughts snapped instantly to the Ark Cradle in Alvin's office. Eventually, he would have to get his hands on it again. Having a personalized set of this armor would probably boost its effectiveness by a lot. Cypher was in more danger than ever before it seemed, having something like that in his arsenal would only be a blessing.
He closed his eyes and focused on an image. In his mind, two powerful wings sprouted from his back and flapped hard twice. He began soaring through the skies, doing flips and tricks as he saw fit, and he grew excited.
However, he felt no change in the real world and he opened his eyes frustrated. "Well that didn't work," he said with a sigh. Syntinnial looked at him with an amused expression.
"I wouldn't be too sure, why don't you take a look at yourself Cypher," he said with a chuckle. As instructed, Cypher looked at himself and noticed that a rather large pair of silver-tinted wings had appeared. They sprouted from the backplate of the cuirass, and Cypher could tell that the overall armor around his chest had grown significantly thinner.
"Changing the armor comes at a cost. It, of course, requires mental energy to be expended in order for changes to take effect and be maintained. It will also draw material from the rest of the armor in order to assume the new form. In theory, one could use the entire armor set to form a wall of defense that would be many times sturdier than a real wall. However, it would leave you standing in nothing but the undersuit," instructed Syntinnial.
Cypher focused again, and the armor returned to normal, at that moment the mental energy required for the transformation of the armor's shape was pulled from his Athenaeum. Cypher took note of that and decided to never manipulate the form of the armor unless he had ample mental energy to spare.
This would prove to be quite useful in a fight and he wished he had known about it sooner. If that had been the case in the warehouse he could have possibly done more. He could have used the armor to brace the barrier, or even himself. He shook the thoughts away, there was no time to worry about it now.
Syntinnial stretched slowly and rolled his head along his shoulders. "I suppose it's time I change as well. An old man has no place on the battlefield." With that, Syntinnial's tired and worn appearance began to age in reverse. His wrinkled face began to tighten up and was replaced by smooth chiseled features. A dark forest green goatee now rested where his grey beard once flowed and his slim elderly body filled out his robes.
His eyes shone a darker, deeper blue, and as the transformation came to a close, his sudden increase in power sent out an aura burst that caused the land ship to wobble and almost spin out. It came to a stop as Syntinnial stopped focusing on driving it.
Power at the peak of the seventh tier almost caused Cypher to vomit. He fell to his knees, his Athenaeum trembling dangerously as Syntinnial's mental waves washed over him. Syntinnial soon controlled his power though, and it dropped down to a spot in the upper fourth rank.
Cypher shuddered and said, "H-how?!"
Syntinnial laughed and replied, "I have many abilities that you know nothing about. Don't forget who I am my boy. In any event, it feels good to be young again. After so many decades spent as an old man, one tends to forget what it's like to have the drive and passion of youth! You know what… Fuck this boat, and fuck secrecy! Let's fly! We have no time to waste!"
Syntinnial kicked off from the ground, the land ship quickly aging into dust as Syntinnial cut his connection with the magickal item. Cypher jumped free just before the wooden planks beneath his feet turned to ashes and blew away in the breeze.
"Keep up if you can!" yelled Syntinnial, his shape dimming in the distance as he flew away at high speed.