III-5 Change

Alright, this book of recipes is more than just about taste, ingredients, and the monsters you can kill to find them—or well, the plants and other stuff you can forage, but not as fun as monster killing anyway, at least in my opinion.

Thanks to The Chef Unwavering, what I've basically discovered is that when you prepare dishes that are made from specific creatures and… well, maybe in a variety of different ways you can get different effects, and it can be pretty interesting and—

Shit. I’m not good at this writing thing at all yet. Yeah, Shiv, write and a few hundred more times… . Wish I spent more time on it at Blackedge, focusing on the written word. Right. What did Georges say? If you can’t do it fancy and complicated, do it simple and right.

Anyway, let's start with the basilisk. Most people eat for the flavor. Basilisk has a really sour flavor, but more than that, the basilisk will save your life. Because you see, basilisks regenerate constantly…and and thanks to the Chef Unwavering, if I cook it just right and preserve the midsection of the meat to be mostly medium while the outside remains well-done, a very specific kind of effect can be achieved.

Shit. I wrote two ands. Godsdammit. I need to cross that out.

But, before that, let's start with the poison glands—the venom glands, however, whatever kind of gland it is. Frankly, there's a lot about the basilisk I haven't figured out. It's a pretty cool creature. I think I'm gonna get a lot out of it. The biology of—felling, sidetracked myself again. Okay. New draft. Starting over.

-Draft Excerpt of Deep Delicacies and Exotic Delights, Written by Shiv

III-5

Change

Greed and power were potent tools. Tools effective enough to make smart people stupid, and stupid people suicidal.

Such was why three squads made an attempt on Adam’s life almost immediately. 

Three squads of mercenary Pathbearers who didn’t properly consider just who they were trying to kill. Three squads made up of twelve Pathbearers who thought their Adept and, in one case, Master-Tier Stealth Skills were enough to ambush and eliminate Shiv, Uva, Adam, Can Hu, and Valor.

None of them made it halfway up the building before they were noticed by Adam. Uva’s mana strands went for them first. Her reflexes were snail-like compared to Shiv—were nonexistent when he triggered his Chronomancy. One second, the mercenary teams were working their way up and along the sides of the building. Then, without any hint or reason at all, eleven of them were reduced into smears of brutalized gore. One was spared. One that found herself soaked in organs and blood. The organs and blood of her comrades. She dropped her Pyromancy infused dagger. Her jaw quivered, her eyes welled with tears, she began to scream. Only for a heavy hand to close around her neck. She let out a choked gasp instead as Shiv picked her up and casually shouldered his way through the walls.

Outside, people cried out. Only by now did Uva and Adam catch up to what he just did.

“Shiv. Warn me next time you use your Chronomancy,” Uva said, feeling slightly dizzy. “The effects are extremely jarring when I am linked to you.”

“Sorry,” Shiv grunted. The mercenary assassin gasped, Shiv turned her around and glared at her. He watched her eyes widen. He gave her a squeeze and her mithril helmet shattered into broken pieces. She was sobbing wildly, whimpering for him to let her go. “I kept one alive. I’m thinking about ripping her in half in front of the other mercenaries.”

Uva considered that act with a thoughtful hum.

Adam was immediately horrified. “What? No. Don’t do that. It’s pointless. It’s cruel.”

Shiv felt his Dread Aura thundering, and he looked disdainfully at the mercenary. “She’s probably a slaver. That, and she was coming for you. She was coming for us. The fear will make the others think twice.”

“Actually, her living might be better if we desire fear. And I partially agree with Adam as well—naked brutality is effective. To a certain extent.” Uva’s mind was clinical, while Adam was purely operating on his own ethics. Strangely, there was an intersection. “You slew eleven Pathbearers in an instant. It is a horrifying feat. And it can be compounded by releasing a sole survivor. She will tell the others what has happened, and that will make them wary. It will also make them realize there is still a possibility of hope.”

“Hm? Hope?” Shiv didn’t get where she was going.

“Hope. That they can be spared. That you are merciful. Tyrannies are built on hope. Have her released back among the others. I will keep a strand with her for now?”

“What?” Adam said, surprised. “No. We should put her in a prison or a holding facility. We cannot have her just…” The Gate Lord considered what Uva was saying. “The deliberate mercy and the fear… Are you sure it will work?”

Uva let out a slight sigh. “I am not sure of anything. But uncertainty is our ally right now. Uncertainty. Fear. And our superiority contrasted with all other Pathbearers. Lord Scorn has placed a target on our backs. But we much teach the people here we are not targets. We are the spiders, and they are but the insects we have spared. We should continue monitoring the situation regardless. It is best to keep them anxious, but also to show them we aren’t complete monsters.”

Shiv loosened his grip slightly. The mercenary gagged for breath.

“Lucky you,” Shiv growled under his breath. “You get to live a while longer.”

“I—I—” She gagged and wheezed for air.

“You should deliver her to the mercenaries on the bridge,” Uva said. “They already fear you, know little of me, and are uncertain about Adam. This can be to our advantage. We can shape their perception of us with focus and deliberate action.”

“Alright,” Shiv said. “Any idea what I should say.”

“Just be yourself. It should be enough.” Uva chuckled.

Adam groaned. “Why did you say that Uva? Shiv, be four percent of yourself. At most. No flaying people or killing anyone else that doesn’t deserve it.”

“They’re slavers and bastards under Compact,” Shiv sneered. “They all have it coming.”

“And right now, they are prisoners of war at most under the rules of war,” Adam stressed. “We cannot debase ourselves and break the laws of hospitality in these conditions.”

“I don’t remember signing any laws,” Shiv replied bluntly.

“Shiv!” Adam hissed.

“Fine,” Shiv responded.

He hovered up into the air slowly, his gravitic field making both him and his prisoner bob up and down. As he rose into the faint ambient light cast by the now azure mana core, heads snapped to him—heads from windows, heads across the entire plaza. With so many people packed tight, there really wasn't any room for most to go. A mess of tents were being set up and, in some cases, the outside was better than the insides of certain buildings just due to the sheer amount of waste that was building up.

And Shiv winced at that. The waste was partially his fault. Most of the Adepts here were “bowel-broken” due to his brief moment of biological warfare. And the effects still lingered somewhat. With so many slaves and other Initiate-Tiers, it could get very bad real fast.

“Everything to see here, folks!” Shiv called out loudly, shamelessly. “Just a failed assassination attempt.”

“Gods, Shiv,” Adam cringed.

Shiv snorted. If he had to put up with being feared, he might was well have a bit of fun with it.

As he continued his leisurely path over to the bridge leading to the Surface Gateway, Shiv looked down at the many mercenary tents lining the bridge. What’s more, the mercs were already building their own platforms and expanding their available room with Geomancy and some other skills. Soon, though, the survivors were in an uproar, loudly talking about what was going to happen. The dread across the surviving district spiked high—but Shiv didn’t get any levels.

Yeah, considering the last massive jump happened when I scared the eldritch bastard, making normal people and weaker Pathbearers terrified is not going to cut it anymore.

The surge of fear exploded through the mercenaries as he descended. Many of their number poked their heads out of their tents and gawked. Some fled back in. Most were armed, but kept their weapons low, clutched in shaking hands. Shiv chucked the only assassin he spared down at the mercs. She bounced once but didn’t react to the fall at all. Instead, she began crawling on hands and knees away from him. She already fouled her pants, and she was whimpering, screaming incoherently as she looked at the blood on her

A few other mercenaries loudly vomited. And that just made their collective morale worse.

Shiv hovered in the air for a moment, his body shrouded by the pale blue light, his form a visage of death, his eyes bright white and utterly merciless. He saw Siggi in the group, and she was shaking most of all. She, more than anyone else, had contact with him, knew his aberrant nature, and knew what he was capable of. But he wasn’t here to scare the shit out of her. Frankly, she did as he asked and found some Biomancers to keep him stable earlier, so he felt more positive about her than most people here. He gave her a nod.

Faintly, he felt the fear in her lessen. She nodded back.

So slowly, as he dangled there in the air thanks to his gravity field, he pulled off his helmet and he addressed the mercenaries. "All right, eleven of you are dead," Shiv said bluntly, casually. "They tried to come for the Gate Lord. They wanted to get the rewards from the quest and all that other stuff. Well, I can't say I exactly blame them entirely. We’re Pathbearers. We’re going to want levels and items. We’re going to want to grow But I'm gonna be very honest. You can't pull it off. You can't."

He stared at the mercenaries for a while longer. Any judgment? Some were outright cowed, looking down at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze. A few others tried but failed; they flinched away, his glare too much for them to bear. And then there were some. There were some that were terrified, but they clenched their fists and they hardened their faces. Those were the ones he needed to watch, but potentially those were the ones that could still be used to keep the others in check. If he targeted those, then maybe the rest would follow. He spiked his Dread Aura and even those began to quail and quiver. The smell of more people fouling their pants filled the air.

Smells bad, but doing this is kind of funny… Shit. Uva, am I developing a bit too much sadism.

“It’s alright,” she replied, indifferent.

“Not a bit,” Adam entered the conversation. “Bloody hell, Shiv, they’re already scared. Just threaten them a little. You don’t need to be more than that.”

“Now. I know most of you are slave-running pieces of shit or sell-skills without a moral fiber." Siggy cringed. Shiv kept going, "Well, you understand that if you come for us, understand that you come for the people who slew the monster that destroyed the entire gate. Yeah. That thing? It was some kind of eldritch entity. We fought it. I wrestled with it. One of my companions ripped its mind apart. And then the Gate Lord killed it. It was more than a Low Hero, and we killed it.”

Shiv gave them a few seconds to digest what he was saying. “

"I sense a few Masters among you," Shiv declared, "but I don't see any Heroes. And of the Masters I see, I don't think a single one of you is even a True or High. But maybe you can get lucky. Maybe you can kill me. Maybe. If you don't, though, it's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt real bad before I let you leave for the other side." Shiv swept the crowd again, and most of them didn't have anything to say.

“But we’re not just going to butcher you. Well. My companions asked me to be nice. I still might get there. Depends on if you guys keep shitting yourselves. The smell is starting to bother me, I’m not going to lie.” He struggled not to laugh.

“Shiv!” Adam hissed. “That’s literally your fault.”

“I know,” Shiv replied, cackling internally. “That’s why it’s so funny. I’m blaming them for it.”

“But consider this a merciful warning,” he pointed at the screaming assassin. She clawed at her body, trying to get the blood and gore to come off. Several other mercenaries threw a blanket over her and started hosing her down with Hydromancy. “I didn’t kill that one. Not because she’s special. Just to show you all I’m not here for your pain. Frankly, I don’t give a shit about most of you. So don’t make me give a shit. Otherwise, you and I will learn more than a few things about Practical Metabiology together. Me more than you, I suspect.”

With his speed done and his Dread Aura thundering happily inside him, Shiv prepared to turn and leave.

But then there came a thin voice, a near-defiant voice, but as Shiv listened to it, it sounded more desperate rather than rebellious. "And what are we supposed to do…" a tall elven mercenary gasped. He had long flowing blonde hair, but her face was pale, her legs were shaking, and she seemed to be some kind of cavalry, judging from her kit and armor. Long lance, heavy armor, and riding leathers… 

Shiv let a bit of his Creeping Void leak out before he stopped it. That only increased the unease in the air.

"You're supposed to keep yourself alive and not throw away your life meaninglessly. Because that's what's gonna happen if you keep coming for us. We will see you, and we will kill you. I will kill you. And you might not get the sudden ends the first group of lucky winners experienced.”

“No! No!” she held up her hands in horror. “I—I misspoke. I don’t mean that! N-no one will ever attempt the quest while you are here! No one!” She looked at the other mercenaries. “No one! But—but I mean—I beg your mercy, Hero. But… There's no food," she continued, her voice falling to a whisper. "There's no food for the weakest of us. The few Biomancers we have also cannot care for the sick.”

She looked at the others as her babbling grew worse. "Many are sick. There was an outbreak of dysentery, so many are weak—many, many are dying." 

At this, Shiv barely held back a grimace. Again, that was probably his fault. The bowel-breaker. It was still spreading, and now that the gate's infrastructure was practically annihilated, there was nothing, there was nowhere they could go to easily process their waste. 

“You might be able to go months—years—without food, month, or water, or even breath, Hero, but we are not so strong. And the people in the district… the diseases that will be certain to spread…”

And her courage shattered as she looked away, her will to speak faltering.

Shiv didn't spike his dread aura again. Instead, he stared at the mercenary and considered what to do next. He descended from the sky and landed just before her. She took a step back. She was shaking, but she didn't look away. Siggy was also staring at him, peeking from around a tent.

"Right. Tell me what you need." Shiv looked up at the elf. She was pretty tall, which made how terrified she was of him seem weirdly amusement in his mind.

"What?" the elf mercenary reacted.

“Actually, tell me your name first. Then tell me what you need.”

"Me? I am… I am…" She swallowed but managed to get the lump down. "I am Thelora. I was… I was a captain of the Scarlet Feathers. We were—we were a company contracted to defend the gate. I… I ran. That’s why I’m alive.”

She looked ashamed. Shiv grunted in understanding. “That’s why you’re wise, I guess. So. You need food and medical assistance.”

“Water, too,” she kept going.

“Power cells,” an automaton cried out by the side. “And a maintenance facility.”

And soon, the mercenaries were all crying out random things they needed. Shiv spiked his Dread Aura slightly. They all choked and went quiet.

“Alright, Thelora,” Shiv said, reaching up to grip the deserter on the shoulder. Her face went pale as she felt the sheer power in his very fingers. He could have burned her to paste if he just squeezed. “I’m appointing you as commander of these… prisoners of war. You gather a list of what you need and give it to me later. I’ll see what can be done. In the meantime…” he looked at the gateway. “We’ll see about what to do with gateway. Some of you are surfacers. I know you want to run. But that’ll be on our time. Not yours. Got it.”

Muttered agreements and breaths of gratitude followed.

“Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Great Hero—” Thelora gasped.

“Don’t kiss my ass,” Shiv muttered. “Just keep being wise. I don’t have the taste for killing you. None of you give me levels. None of you are an actual fight. Not after what I’ve been through. Got it?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good.” Shiv blasted back up into the air and watched as the mercenaries stumbled back. “I’ll come see you again in an hour. And also, get some volunteer teams ready or something. We’ll be scavenging the ruins soon. There will be plenty of stuff there too.”

Then, he shot off without a proper farewell, returning to the others.

"Well, they're gonna be a bloody problem," Adam groaned telepathically. “I’m not bloody looking forward to watching them all the time.”

“We might not have to,” Uva said. “I have Siggy watching and studying the groups for me. They don’t have any proper Psychomancers. Ten Adept-Tiers. No more. They cannot hide things from me.”

“Uva. Do you have any idea how many Republic laws we are breaking when you operate this way?” Adam asked.

“None that matter since we’re in another dimension,” Uva replied. “We do things for effectiveness. Not because tradition. We do not hurt these people without reason. We do not do anything to them without reason. But we must keep them distrustful. As alienated from each other as they are from us. That is how we keep any saboteur cells from developing. That is my say in the matter.”

“I just…” Adam bit back his discomfort. “I am trying to accept this. I really am, but the Republic—Psychomancy is a dangerous tool…”

Uva sent a pulse of reassurance into him. “Yes. And it must be used carefully indeed. But these are the methods my people use against the First Blood. And these are the same methods that will aid us now.”

Adam folded. “Fine. Fine. I trust you in this matter. Just… be mindful. I don’t want to find us in doing things in the extreme.”

“I am always mindful,” Uva said. “I think it is Shiv that you must worry about.”

“No,” Adam said. “He’s your problem. You are in charge of keeping him controlled.”

“Hey, asshole, I’m right here. I was plenty controlled just now.” Shiv frowned.

“You made a dozen people foul their pants, Shiv,” Adam complained. “I can smell them—I can smell the undigested food they ate from inside the Garden of Bountiful Alloy.”

“Yeah?” Shiv snorted. “I made them shit themselves tactically and strategically.”

“Oh, how is that?” Adam spat. “How was that tactical or strategic. I want to hear.”

“Tactically, they’re afraid but hopeful so they might listen to us. Strategically, you got to enjoy the taste of shit, which amuses me.”

“You godsdamned bastard…”

“Boys…” Uva said with a low growl. “Focus.”

“Yes. Thank you Sister Uva,” Shiv said mockingly. “Someone has to keep us focused. Unlike a certain negligent Gate Lord who can even figure out how to use his own core. Did you figure out what is wrong with it yet? Or do you need me to find you some pills to fix the dysfunction.”

“I was busy using my Awareness, you bull-sized literal piece of shit,” Adam replied as sweetly as he could. “Besides. I know the problem. Here. Take a look.”

Gate [Name Pending]

Category 4 > 3

Skills

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

Biomes

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

Districts

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]

Gateways

Vulketh: [Under Lockdown due to Mana Insufficiency]

Earth (Abyss): [Under Lockdown due to Mana Insufficiency]

Earth (Surface): Under Lockdown

“Well, that doesn’t look good,” Shiv muttered. “Everything is in decay.”

“Quite,” Adam sighed. “The only thing I can access right now are the gateways and even then, I can only manipulate one at a time. There isn’t even enough mana to fully open or adjust the states of the gateways at the same time. The Stranger did a damned number on this thing.”

“It also likely contaminated and broke many things within the core,” Valor wheezed weakly. His mind was there, but still faint and weak—even with Adam’s light. “Many… skills. The Starhawk’s presence burned away much of the Stranger’s unnatural mana, but even so, I suspect we will be returning to a Category 3 or potentially Category 2 core. The space available to us will shrink. Skills will be lost. Available districts and biomes… All will be lost with the mass death and destruction. Along with… with the Stranger’s actions.”

“The system just can’t stop torturing us,” Adam growled.

“I suspect this is it giving you a blessing,” Valor chuckled. “A Unique Gate is usually highly vaunted and desired, even if it is of a lower Mana Output Category. I suspect that when the decay stabilizes, the skill that will become available to the core will be connected to your Righteous Dawn Prevails, Adam. That might… that might be more valuable than even a Category Eight Gate. And also… Invite invading armies to try and take it from us, of course.”

“Of course,” Uva sighed.

“Of course,” Adam spat bitterly.

“Nice,” Shiv hummed, imagining what it would be like fighting an entire army.”

“Shut up, Shiv,” Adam snapped. “I’m in charge of this bloody core. And this is all your fault.”

“My fault?” Shiv said. “How?”

“Because you’re so bad at dying the system’s now trying to kill the rest of us harder to make up for it.”

The outrage in Adam’s voice was tinged with a hint of faint amusement at the end. Shiv didn’t feel good about what was happening to all of them either, but he had to seize on the joke. He shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

Adam barked an exasperated laugh. And groaned. “I just want a moment of peace. Just a few minutes. We… I still need to reply to the damned Inquisition. The Educator’s tome, the owl, the thing about… my mother being in Shiv’s soul. So many damned things and now this quest—More! More! More! Just constantly more and more threats and problems…”

And just then, Shiv felt how fragile Adam felt. Mere hours ago, the Young Lord was on the verge of death. None of them had been given a chance to decompress. They needed to fight for some space. To ward off the system long enough to truly recover. “I know. I need to spend some time cooking. Hell, I want to spend a year cooking. But I think we’re going to need to hold out a while longer. Together. But we’re close, Adam. The gateway is right there. We took the damned place. Now we just need to hold it, and then we can start making for Blackedge.”

“Why… why can’t we just…” Adam didn’t finish his statement. With his mind connected, everyone knew what he desired.

“We can’t just abandon the gate,” Uva said. “Well. We can. It will just result in the both of you cut off from any support, me hidden in one of your minds or dead, and a severe operational disadvantage. This place, destroyed as it is, can be used as a sanctuary. We can hold it. We build ourselves back up here. If we go out—and considering how brutal the system has become—we will likely be immediately assailed by other extreme dangers.”

Adam winced. “I hate that you’re probably right. Just feels like we’re being boxed in.”

Shiv considered how spent Adam was, and something in him hardened. “I can go out first. See if things get better if I am gone for a day.”

“No,” Valor said. “It is too late for distance to spare your companions. To spare the rest of us. They are already burning. You were the original flame, but the blaze has spread. They are marked. They will not be unmarked now. One way or another, they are in this with you for good or ill.”

And now Shiv felt like complete shit. “If I knew—”

“Nothing would have changed,” Adam sighed, but interrupted him immediately. “There was no other way this could have gone. Could I try going my own way? Perhaps. But I wouldn’t be a Hero. Or Unique. I would be… useless. I would still be an Adept. A Master at best. But probably not. I don’t regret it. I don’t regret anything. I’m just bloody spent, Shiv.”

Shiv sympathized.

“Adam,” Uva said, “take an hour.”

“What?” Adam said. “But the system—the gate—”

“Shiv, I, and Can Hu will be here. You will be alerted. Just take some time.”

And now the Gate Lord felt exceedingly guilty. “But… you two are still…”

“I can manipulate the conditions of my own mind,” Uva said. “I will spend some time when we have a moment hardening your mental architecture and also teaching you some methods to process the stress. Do not compare yourself to Shiv. The nature of his mind is almost as disgusting as his physical resilience.”

“Thanks, Uva,” Shiv said, entirely earnestly.

“It drives me mad with envy,” she replied, utterly deadpan.

Adam was still reluctant, but with another pulse of her will, he sighed and went along.

“There are… I can tell you about as well,” Valor whispered. “I felt like I was… on the verge of breaking more than once during my time fleeing through the wilderness. I did break several times…”

And as Valor began talking to Adam, Uva cast a thought at Shiv. “Shiv. There is something I need to show you.”

Shiv paused. “Just me?”

“Yes. It… it is my newest skill. It is best that I show you first. Just you alone.”

“What? Why? Are you okay?”

“I don’t think any of us feel okay right now. We are just enduring. But—best that I show you. The skill… It affects one’s sanity and feeds off madness. I cannot risk using it near other people.”

Shiv felt a worsening sense of foreboding, but also a growing interest. He really wanted to see what kind of skill she had now.

***

"Alright, so let’s see this mysterious and terrifying skill," Shiv said. He tried to keep his voice light-hearted, but the expression on Uva's face was hard as stone and devoid of any mirth. In fact, her entire body radiated tension. “It’s your second Heroic, right? Heroic Skills are usually pretty powerful.”

"Shiv," she said, extending her left arm. "Can you peel part of my armor? Just make a small gap."

They were hidden in a teleportation anchor Shiv managed to pull out from the rubble and twist back into shape. In the darkness, it was just them, and her eyes painted both of them in ethereal, eldritch colors. Shiv missed her old eye color, but her new ones were bewitching. He found himself entranced several times.

“Shiv,” she repeated.

“Right. Sorry. I was lost in your eyes. Literally.”

She rolled her eyes.

Shiv regarded her completely destroyed Celestial Jade armor. Even with the reinforcement offered by his adamantine bones, it was utterly shattered, a testament to how strong the Recollector was—a testament to how strong the Recollector was even while the entity was trapped within Confriga's being. 

Shiv shuddered. If she hadn't gotten that strange Master-Tier Physicality Skill Evolution, there would be no Uva now. Gently, he made an incision, just a slight tear exposing part of her upper right shoulder.

"A little bit more," she said. "Easy enough for something to spill through."

"What do you mean, 'spill through'?" Shiv said, as he continued, widening the tear.

"You'll understand in a moment. What I am about to shape out from my flesh is undoubtedly eldritch. It is... it feeds off insanity," she finished. "I need to induce insanity into all of us to sustain it for a while."

“Draw out? How did you even get this skill, Uva. Is this going to hurt you?”

“Not physically,” she replied darkly. “It was a skill that came from both the Recollector and the Dreamtaker. As I was bound to the Recollector's mind and struggling against it… I broke part of it, and it nearly broke all of me…"

She cast her memories into Shiv.

The Recollector's mind was unknowable, unthinkable. Shiv couldn't even follow any of the details. Past, present, and even a faint mirage of the future were all crashed together. It was experiencing all these moments at once, trying to keep them together, and suddenly he understood why the Recollector had such a one-track mind. It could barely follow itself. So often, it would have parallel tracks of the same thought that contradicted each other, and they would pull until one or multiple of its past selves decided against or for a specific thought, and only then did it decide what to do, if that was even what was happening.

Shiv started to clench his jaw as his mind strained under the weight of the memories. How she managed to focus on her Psychomancy while affected by that was absurd.

"And so you see already what it takes to compel such a thing," Uva said. "When I was within the Recollector's mind, I opened my gaze. I tore a gap into the outside so the Dreamtaker could unleash her New-Dreamt through, but during the process, I broke. Part of my mind split, and I gazed upon myself, and something, something was lodged in me, something that the Recollector struck, struck in my stead. It should have killed me," she breathed, and then she held herself lightly. "It should have killed me."

Shiv squeezed her arm gently, and he watched as one of her mana strands sank into her own mind. She did an edit and cut away some of the existential terror. There were many benefits to being a Psychomancer. Shiv wasn't sure if this was one of them.

Uva continued after a breath. "But as it struck the fragment of the New-Dreamt, it shattered inside of me, fused with me. My soul, I thought, was going to break, and I'd entangle. But as I fell, as I descended, as the Dreamtaker and the Stranger's essence warred within me, they exhausted each other..."

"All because of me," Shiv said.

"It's more like we keep surviving beside you," Uva replied. "The system doesn't exactly care if we survive. This is my intuition. But it gives us these opportunities, these chances, these small, minute possibilities for which we can claim power rather than falling. And that is what we have been doing time and time again. The eldritch, the outsiders, they're just a perfect vehicle for such a thing as well, because they have not been fully colonized by the system, because they are not claimed, and their natures are aberrant."

"But once fused with our souls," she swallowed, "once fused with our souls, they can be recorded. Can be shaped by mana and made into something unique.”

She fell silent for a moment. "I'm going to start the process now. This will be unpleasant," she said, "but not nearly anything bad as what you've suffered at the hands of the Recollector."

"I don't think anything is going to be as bad as that," he muttered under his breath. He looked into her eyes, into those swirling, ever-changing colors, unique colors every time. “I’m not afraid. I’m here. For you.”

“And I you,” she replied.

He watched as her features hardened, as she removed the last bits of doubt in herself. And then she pulled at his sanity. She pulled at his coherence, and his thoughts began to spiral. “This is necessary. I cannot rouse it without… without madness.”

At the same time, she tore at parts of herself. He could feel it. She let out a grunt of disorientation, but she had so many mana strands that she was able to concurrently protect the rest of her mind from collapsing, even as she mauled part of herself. During this process, something began to shimmer and gleam along the tear of her shoulder. 

Her flesh twisted unnaturally. Her body spooled into a turning spiral that churned in place and curved so unnaturally that Shiv’s mind failed to understand how she moved. She folded into herself, and from the rip he left in her armor came emerged a strange symbol. A strange symbol she made with her own stretching skin. The symbol she made flashed with eldritch color. Afterward came fractal, a shape. But it wasn't a stable shape. Instead, it kept folding in on itself, twisting, slicing, dancing through the air. And then more jutting edges followed. More. And as it unspooled, part of its unnatural angles touched the insides of the teleportation anchor they were in.

And sliced clean through the reinforced metal like it was naught but air.

“Shit,” Shiv blinked. “That’s sharp.”

She shared the skill with him fully thereafter, and he regarded its name for the first time.

Skill Gained: Shaper of the Aberrant Fractals 2 (Heroic)