Myth//OS - Chapter 61

When we were halfway to the bridge arching to the next floating island over. Without warning, the wind abruptly picked up. If before it was a pleasant breeze, then what hit me was closer to a high level magic of wind. The surprise burst instantly shattered my stability and would’ve sent me flying if I didn’t react quick enough.

Spikes of white Ebonshroud flowed down through me and lanced deep into the ground to hold me still while my Will Wire flew out with a spear deep into the ground. Brace and Ether Physique worked in tandem to reinforce my body. The combo let me weather the abrupt surge of wind without any issue.

Aggronaut’s entire body glowed in front of me thanks to his Grounded skill. Earth flowed up and over his feet and legs, entirely encasing them in rock and rubble that held him still. Or, at least, his lower body still. His entire upper body was forced backward until he was bent over in an extremely uncomfortable looking position.

Rabbyte, on the other hand, was set up similar to me. The boots of her armor had slammed down deep into the ground until she was half-buried under the rock. The jet thrusters she briefly showed off back in Bastion burned with a brilliant glow, resisting the force of the wind. Similar to me, she didn’t seem to have too many issues.

After about a minute of my hair flying wildly thanks to the wind, it vanished just as abruptly as it came. Aggronaut struggled for a moment and then stood back up. “Ugh- that was not pleasant.”

”Did you not know it only worked on your legs?” Rabbyte casually retracted the spikes and her thrusters cut off.

”I mean… I did, but I didn’t really think about it.” Our tank rubbed at his back. “I’m definitely going to need a massage after this.”

I pulled my Will Wire and Ebonshroud back to me and casually stretched out. I knew the wind was coming, of course, but it was a bit different actually experiencing it. I hadn’t expected natural wind to be so violent right off the bat. 

”Let’s keep moving.” Aggronaut hefted his shield once more and moved forward along the cliff face once more. 

I absentmindedly followed after the two while down the mountain at the giant pavilions scattered around. Most of them were in ruins, half-collapsed and blown over by the wind. This place must’ve really been something back before it became a gate. The ruin and decay kinda reminded me of home, albeit with a completely different style.

[Nighteye’s ears perk up. Serhymn, right? What was that like?]

Beautiful… back when it was alive. Now… Well, there wasn’t much left of it when I fell through the portal here to Bastion. At least, nothing truly alive—

“My sensors are picking something up.” Rabbyte stopped, pulling our Vanguard to a stop. “Looks like three, maybe four creatures. Just around the cliff bend.”

“I hear you.” Aggronaut pulled out his sword and looked back over us. “Are we ready?”

”Yep.” White Ebonshroud flowed out of my wrist, forming an ivory javelin. I wanted to use magic, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a weapon at the ready just in case. 

“Initiate combat mode!” Rabbyte’s armor shifted. The metal ears flopped low and the red dots on her helmet turned to angry red slits. On either side of her hips, circular plates pushed out to reveal pistols. She wasn’t moving for them though. Instead, she pulled an assault rifle off her back. 

“Minigun?” I asked the rabbitkin.

”Ah, I left it behind.” She lifted a hand and helped strap her mascot back down to her helmet. “It’s good against F, but its damage falls off quickly and it's bulky. I really want a fragment to make it a proper item, but those don’t just fall out of the sky.”

Aggronaut shifted from foot to foot ahead of us. He didn’t seem bothered by us chatting and slowing the raid down. “Uh- are we ready?”

“Oh! Sorry!” Rabbyte pulled the bolt back on her rifle and checked the chamber. “Locked and loaded! Ready to smack down!”

”I like the enthusiasm!” Aggronaut had that boyish grin back on his face again, a little like a dog, actually. He took a breath and charged around the cliff edge. The sound of metal clattering immediately exploded from beyond my line of sight.

Rabbyte’s thrusters sprung to life and she flew up into a hover just over the void. Her assault rifle barked sharply and the bright muzzle flashes illuminated the cliff face. “Wind Weasels!”

I turned the corner a beat after the two of them to find Argonaut holding his shield up to block a group of four dog-sized weasels floating just above the ground. Each of them were slightly green, and had a transparent tinge to their fur. I could see right through them, just as Rabbyte’s bullets flew through them without any damage.

Right as the weasel's attention started to shift to Rabbyte, Aggronaut shouted at the top of his lungs. “I’d say you reek worse than a sewer, but that'd insult sewers!”

One of the Wind Weasels lost the transparent look and struck out with deadly looking claws. They were a wind-wrapped green that clanged harshly against the Vanguard’s shield. He staggered back slightly, though even with that, his sword flashed out and sliced deep into the weasel's limb. It dodged back, fading back into its transparent state just before Rabbyte could light it up.

”Attack it when it comes at me!” Aggronaut shouted and pushed forward with his shield. One of the weasels surged forward and slammed heavily into his shield.

Ping!

The moment it did, I plucked lightly at an ether string. A spike of earth shot up from underneath the creature. It tried to dodge, but the spike managed to impale into its side. With it half impaled, I cast another spell, Root. It wasn’t possible earlier with the creatures intangible and floating. Now that it was impaled, the rock spike surged and grappled the weasel’s side, refusing to let go.

The weasel made a pained noise and tried to jerk free to no success. It seemed like it couldn’t even go transparent either. The beast offered no resistance to a spray of Rabbyte’s rifle. The gun barked several times, and the weasel collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood.

”Nice one!” Aggronaut pushed forward, taking ground and giving us more space to work with. “It’s you! Nature’s reminder that even slime can grow fur!”

His taunt skill perfectly interrupted one from flanking around to attack Rabbyte. Two of them charged forward in sync while the last one shifted and became even more transparent. Wind surged around its body as it started to channel something.

As if the sudden attacks weren’t enough, in the distance a ghastly fog started to flow downwind toward us. Even without anyone saying anything, it was obvious that it was one of the Fel Winds that plagued this place. 

Before anything else, I activated Radiance on my javelin. The white Ebonshroud glowed with an internal moon, shedding silver light across our surroundings. The air where the light seemed to sizzle slightly, and my breathing came easier and easier with each passing moment. The poison wasn’t just in the Fel Winds, it seemed. 

With that realization, I split the ether flow, creating two pinpricks of light. One still clung to my javelin, and the other radiated from me like a halo of light. I charged up the one on my javelin and then threw it with the full buffed might of Ether Physique. 

The javelin whizzed through the air sharply, closing the gap to the Fel Wind almost immediately. It slammed into the fog cloud, disappearing beyond the ghastly wall for a moment. The next, moonlight burst from within, completely destroying the cloud and purifying the poison held within.

While I was taking care of that, Rabbyte gunned down the two surging that’d charged Aggronaut. That just left one left that was completely intangible as it cast some kind of large scale magic. We could only watch and wait.

If my strings were higher, I could’ve cast Dimensional Lock or something to keep it bound, but I was still stuck with one string for now. We could only watch and wait for the attack to come.

And come it did. After a few seconds longer, wind burst from the weasel in a fierce array of wind blades. I dredged out Ebonshroud and reinforced the while flowing ivory with Echoing Reinforcement. The combo of the two easily blocked the wind blades. 

Beside me, Aggronaut likewise hunkered down behind his shield. Rabbyte followed him a beat later, using the tall guy as a meat shield. They both passed through the magic attack completely unharmed, though the Vanguard’s shield had several long scratches across it.

”Hah! You call that an attack?! I’ve seen babies with more strength than you.” Argonaut called out once more in a taunt. The Wind Weasel lost it and charged at him, eyes flaring with vengeance—

Pling!

A tune played out of thin air as I plucked at a string. Rock spiked up from the ground toward the weasel. This time, I read the dodge and planned for it. A moment later, another spike surged up and pierced up through the creature’s head, killing it instantly.

For a moment, calm settled across the once battlefield. Then Rabbyte bounded over to me, hopping around like I was some kind of tourist attraction. “Why didn’t you tell me you could use magic! That’s so cool! Ah, I’ve always wanted to cast spells like that.”

I stared at the rabbitkin who literally turned myths into weapons. She thought I was cool? “Teach you?”

”Really?!” Combat mode on her armor reversed and the metal ears of her suit perked up high. The mascot still clinging to her rapidly shook its head in terror.

I moved over to the dead Wind Weasels and helped Aggronaut extract the ether crystals from their corpses. ”Yep. Few years.” 

“Ah—well, you know.” Her enthusiasm rapidly died. “I-I’m a busy gal. A few years is a long time.”

”…” I silently looked over my shoulder at the Striker, trying to keep the judgement out of my eyes. The sunglasses covering them helped. 

”D-don’t look at me like that.” She rubbed the crook of her elbow and looked off the side of the cliff. 

“Ether Bloom.” Aggronaut called from the side after he’d finished extracting two of the cores. A small flower grew from a rockface sticking out of the cliff side. “It’s that way.”

He pointed to an island across a sheer drop into the clouds below. There was only one bridge connecting to it, and it was a rickety looking rope one. Unlike the stonework that most bridges were made of, this one looked like it’d fall apart at the slightest touch.

“Well…” Rabbyte immediately jumped at the change of subject. The thrusters churned to life across her armor. “I dunno about you guys, but I sure am glad I can fly. Good luck with that.”

No kidding. I stared at the bridge. Would it even support one of us? “You first.” 

Aggronaut shot me a betrayed look. It made him look like a doggo that had its paw stepped on, giving him a certain pitifulness that made me hesitate. Should- should I go first?

[Nighteye adamantly shakes her head. Let that bastard go first. Serves him right for looking like a mutt.]

Wow… you hate dogs that much? I guess I should have seen that coming, but it still took me a bit by surprise. It seemed so very stereotypical. I thought you’d be above stereo types, my dear Miix Guardian Star.

[Nighteye glares at you. You're a cat adjacent. You should hate them too!]

Not really. Dogs are cool. They’re like big bundles of hyperness with far too much affection baked into every fiber of their being. How could you hate them? I guess, maybe, if you were traumatized as a kitten I’d get it. Probably.

This conversation brought back old memories. I used to have a dog when I was younger. He was a great big husky. Super warm in the winter. Err—maybe have wasn’t quite right. We lived together in the same alley for a few months… My memory of all that was a bit hazy, though. It was seventeen centuries ago. Whatever happened to Fluffy? 

“Fine, fine, I’m going.” Aggronaut shot us one last glance and then set up a piton into the ground. He tied a quick harness of rope around himself. “I have a feeling Grounded won’t be much help here.”

“We’ll cheer you on from here!” Rabbyte waved her hand at the Vanguard. “Best of luck!”

”Yeah, thanks…” He hesitantly moved for the dangling rope bridge.