Chapter 100: Scion Sovereign

Subject: Caim Location: Riventread - Outskirts The breachworm wasn't falling for it anymore! The only thing stemming the flood of panicked thoughts was the disconnected state Caim was in, in the body of an unfeeling husk. Nonetheless, his somber stare informed Gire well enough. The visual indicators of sound got Caim's attention. He looked back and saw Gire making his own move. A howling bolt of energy pierced the air toward the blightbeast's maw, exploding on impact The breachworm's mouth flaps splayed wide, and Scion, demonstrating its tactical digression, took this opportunity to dive in. The worm recovered at the last instant and lunged. During the lunge, the worm’s tail end flicked against Caim’s Scion, knocking it out of the air. Caim could feel the impact himself, but he didn't know why. The distant sound of metal creaking was followed by a soft beeping emanation Caim had never heard before. That's right, he could hear the sound. Caim was no longer in his Shard avatar. He was conscious in his real body, mostly buried in the hastily-carved rock hollow. He didn’t feel like he should be able to hear the beeping, given how distant the soft sound was. It gave Caim the impression that Scion was calling out for help, and he had to admit that it hurt to see it so pained. Caim found that the depression in the clay surrounding his body had changed, disturbed by the tumultuous reverberations of the worm. The hard rock beside him had shifted, and it was now angled above him, trapping him in. Caim could still breathe, but only just barely, and the surface was now farther above him. In hindsight, this was a poor choice of a hiding spot. A practiced tactician Caim was not. He struggled to shrug off the extra weight of the clay, rock, gravel, and sand covering him, but it was not so easily shaken off. He felt that Scion was desperately struggling to return to him on broken wing. Scion Metamorphosis Requested A faint glow emanated from the Scion, and Caim felt a mental signal gently tug at him. It was a feeling somewhere between asking for his permission and requesting his attention. Scion Metamorphosis Activated Caim consented, and his body began to move on auto-pilot. At the same time, his body felt constricted. The sourcetech was controlling him right now, but it couldn't complete it's task with him buried as he was. Surging with inhuman strength, Caim's gloved hands began to glow with a white sheen, illuminating the cramp space. Time slowed to a crawl. Before Caim knew what was even happening, chips of rock broke away in stuttering slow motion. His altered perception of time waxed and waned in pulsing succession. At times he felts time was frozen, and at others, it almost moved like normal. Though the castoff rock fragments were falling at what must have been a normal rate, they occasionally appeared frozen and weightless. The stillness of the air was punctuated every so often. At these times, the efforts of his hands, moving on their own, were revealed. The clawed, punched, pried, and broke... Every obstacle in his path. Eventually, there was space enough for him to crawl out of the hiding space, gasping for air. Time was moving slowly still, but it now progressed at a consistent pace. Scion was struggling to stay aloft above him. Caim could see Gire staring on from behind his hiding place. Caim's body was still controlled by the sourcetech, and a hand thrust itself in the air. Amber threads of light burst from his hand and wrapped around Scion, forming into a jagged crystallise. He could see the worm's body coiled around the festerfont divide, but he couldn't see the head from where his gaze was angled. Scion was radiating a glow, which had started dull, but was now peaking in intensity. The crystallise was descending, casting a warm light on Caim and everything around him. He strode forward, undeterred by the danger ahead. The barbed crystallise touched down in his waiting arms. Inside, he felt a life pulsing, changing, growing. The glow was so bright that Caim felt he should close his eyes. His body didn't obey. Instead, he loosened his grip on the crystallise, just as something inside ejected itself from the casing. It was Scion, but it was different. Unfamiliar pieces materialized around Scion. It had undergone a profound alteration in that crystallise. Scion Metamorphosis Complete [ Scion Sovereign Has Emerged ] Caim was released from sourcetech control. He took a few swift breathes, grateful to do so of his own volition. Amber metal wing extensions replaced the existing metal, increasing the wingspan nearly twofold. The appendages themselves were now formed from multiple tiers of hinges, allowing them to collapse even more tightly. Amber wiring replaced the blue of the existing wings. Caim studied the metal plates reinforcing Scion's body. This bolstered its durability, changed in appearance to make it look even more organic. The "metal" of the plates were somewhat deformed, curving out into pointed barbs, like the carapace of an insect. The plates were also a more natural, dark shade of brown. The most noticeable difference aside from its liveliness, was that the construct appeared significantly more mature and intimidating. As for the head, or rather, the gun emplacement, the gun’s barrel was reinforced and extended. That was not all. It was fitted inside the cylindrical mold, upon which an upwards-facing crescent was affixed. The overall appearance of the Scion was like night and day. Based on looks alone, it had become more powerful. But Caim could feel down to his core what more had changed. It was a much more capable protector now. Scion [ Scion Sovereign: An airborne protector capable of firing moderately impactful projectiles at a target until that target is destroyed or the Scion is dismissed. The Sovereign maturity is more durable, intelligent, and nimble. ] Caim saw Gire rushing over to him. The man was shouting. "What in Pulse are you doing?! Where did you come from? Get out of the open!" He grabbed Caim's sleeve and tugged him over to a nearby hiding place before the worm noticed. This small rock was barely large enough to fit the two of them, and even crouched they weren't completely covered from view. Gire's face showed he was aware of that fact, but it was the best he could do. The two of them glanced up at Scion, still hovering above. Then Caim looked back at his companion. Staring at the newly upgraded Scion in awe, the Tracer fumbled with a handful of yellow shards in his pack. He crushed three and handed another two to Caim, who took them and did the same. The rejuvenating effect was immediate. These must be expensive shards. "Burrow", Caim ordered his Shards of Legion, suddenly remembering they were exposed. "Distract the enemy," he ordered Scion. The protector fired off faster than ever before, targeting existing wounds on the exterior of the breachworm's body. Blazing fast bolts of light tore through the air, hitting harder than before. Incredible. This isn’t just a simple enhancement, it’s grown stronger in nearly every way. The breachworm whipped it's head, thrashing to shrug off the attacks. After some time, it succeeded in hitting Scion. It crunched and dispersed as easily as before. Scion Destroyed I suppose it's hard to notice the difference in durability when it's up against something like this. Though the downtime hadn’t changed, Caim could see that it could fire more powerful projectiles, and with greater precision, it was more durable and more agile, and the number of targets he could select was bumped up to six. "Just what kind of Initiate summons something like that..." Gire muttered in disbelief. "That’s what I was thinking at the start, but I don’t know which is stranger… This new creature, or the fact that I've been able to keep going past what should have been my breaking point. That’s your magic too, right?" "Yes," Caim answered. "I had to sacrifice some healing potential, but it should still mend anything short of a critical wound. I still don't know the specifics. But... I don’t know how much help that'll be if that thing hits either of us dead-on. Instant death can't be mended." The Guild Tracer studied Caim's face and determined he wasn't lying. It might have helped that absolute desperation made it easier for anyone to trust in the remote possibility that they might be saved. "Is that so? If that’s really the case, I can help us survive… just barely. It will hurt, though." Caim shrugged. "My spell’s healing will hurt if you break a bone or more. I've felt it, so it’s nothing I can’t handle." "Understood. Those creatures out there... are they yours?" Caim nodded. "They are my Shards, yes." "How did you mean to use them?" Gire demanded. "I can only give simple commands to this protector here," Caim explained, gesturing to Scion, which was still hovering above him, just below the crest of the rocky outcropping. "With my Shards of Legion, I can do more. They accept simple commands, and follow orders very slowly. What's more... I can also 'step into' one and control it as if it were my own body." Gire shook his head wearily, unsettled by Caim's claim. He'd seen it at work, but seeing wasn't exactly believing in this case. "They can be detonated," Caim continued. "Unlike my other... spells, Legion is more powerful, but it comes at a cost. Once these Shard are destroyed, I will not be able to summon them again. They... uh... They require rare materials." Gire ran a palm across his forehead, brushing his sweat-matted hear away. "If there were ever a time to play every card... this would be it," Gire agreed. "By detonate, you mean they explode, yes?" Caim nodded, retracing memories of nearly killing his friend's in that Guild meeting room. Flashes of attempting to kill Gillis the Hexknight flooded in. He swallowed uncomfortably. Unlike a human, a beast was an easier target. "I don't really know the yield or radius, but it will be enough to do serious harm to the creature if I can somehow get it to swallow them. Beyond that self-destruct, the Shards will not be of any help. They are slow, not nearly durable enough, and their attacks are weaker than Scion's. Weaker than my flying protector." Gire leaned around the edge of their hiding space. It wasn't hard, considering they were already partly exposed. He caught a view of the breachworm's head. Caim couldn't see what Gire was looking at, but he watched the man's gaze flit this way and that, his mind incubating a strategy. "It's the best chance we have, but we should put everything behind that strategy, if it is our one and only chance. Your protector, It's been attacking the breachworm from within, yes?" "It has, but the blightbeast has become too hard to trick. It won't give Scion any more opportunities." Gire shook his head. He had a plan. "I can pry it's mouth open," he stated. "Now, Caim. You’ve disobeyed me so far. This time, I’ll need you to do just as I say. Promise me you'll comply.” Caim saw Gire’s expression and he got chills. The Tracer considered him a liability, even with this new Scion. The Initiate just didn’t have the experience that Gire did, so he should have listened the first time. Who knows, some of the seekers might have made it out But something about Gire telling him to run gave him a deeply uncomfortable feeling, like he was abandoning his best friend on his homeworld all over again. Not because he cared about the stranger personally, but rather because it felt like he would be betraying the memory. It was a wholly irrational thought, especially once he found out the enormity of the creature he'd stayed to face. As if on cue, Caim heard the terrifying shriek. The tiny rock shards, tiny at least relative to the size of the blightbeast, began to vibrate and leak black smoke. They covered the worm's flesh, as it lay coiled around the festerfont behind the two of them, and they had nothing to protect them if it launched them again. "Yes. I’ll do as you say," Caim said hastily. Up to now, Gire had been doing all of the heavy lifting, while Caim left his part up to Scion. If there was a way he could participate more fully, he’d take it. And it wasn't looking like there was any time left to waste. "Very well. I only have so many charke bolts left, so I have to make them count. Take these vials. One of them will last about thirty to forty minutes. You should be able to feel when the effect ends, but don't be hasty about dosing yourself with another. An overdose will kill you. Take another one once the first wears off, and so on. I repeat, do not double up or you will die." Caim pocketed all but one of the vials, staring uneasily at the pale blue contents corked inside. "What will it do to me?" The breachworm, seemed to be building toward something. Something related to those dangerous, living rock shards on its flesh. "It's a mild poison, and it will protect you in small doses. There’s no time for a chemistry lesson. Just get going and draw its attention whenever it targets me. Don't stop running, and only let it focus back on me when you can end this. Now, get going!" "Going!" Caim yelled, uncorking a vial and pressing it to his lips, before taking off at a jog away from Gire. He drank the contents down. Poison or no, Gire had a reason for using this strategy. He had to trust that. Now, how do I go about getting this massive thing’s attention? Just as Caim was thinking that, he heard a hollow, heavy *twang*. The shards on the breachworm's back launched into the air like a hail of person-sized daggers. They flew out in all directions, ejecting in the direction they'd been pointed in when attached to the creature. This is it, he thought, and prepared for the worst. But the living daggers turned in the air, using their broad sides to catch the wind and redirect their flight paths. In this way, a whirlwind of dangerous projectiles were guided away from the interior of festerfont hurtling in every which direction to the exterior of the festerfont. Somewhere in the chaos, Caim thought he saw a column of yellow flame rising in the air near the outer edge of the outskirts layer. Then, more pillars of flame rose up elsewhere to greet the first. "What are you doing, seeker?!" Gire shouted at a whisper, angrily, seeing Caim paused not so far away. Caim refocused on his task. Maybe he'd live long enough to see what that was about later.