Mathew

Mathew's first opportunity to experience the difference between magic and skills was a wake-up call. Best he could tell before this, there hadn't been much of a distinction. 'Magic' happened anytime he applied his willpower these days.

It seemed like this was one of those sufficiently-advanced-technology issues. In this case, ignorance of the mechanics made all the supernatural powers seem like the same thing. Heck, even that was wrong. None of the power was truly supernatural. Just a nature he didn't understand. Regardless magic was categorically different than the effects of skills.

Shaking his head, he refocused on his internal struggle. The ball of magical poison fought the cage of hunger that encased it. Bits and pieces were being stripped away and eaten by his digestion regardless. Every attack brought it heavy losses while staying in a protective ball only slowed the inevitable.

Either option irked Mathew. Each time it mustered an attack, his 'magical stomach' would stretch and flex uncomfortably. On the other hand, he wanted this to be over with so he could push into the brambles.

[New skill awarded: Digestion 43. Digestion 43 overrides Digestion 42.]

This growth was something that thousands of reserves worth of food didn't provide. Some of the difference in the rate of growth came from levels. Still, Mathew felt that the challenge of absorbing magic and poison also had something to do with it.

Pulling up his perk menu, he remembered the admonishment for his failure to spend all his points. This whole way of life was new to everyone here, and Mathew wasn't too proud to admit that he still had struggles. Mathew had two perk points and all options at tier three. After putting their heads together, it was clear that perks formed upgrade paths. From his memory, his digestion skill had three vague themes. Digestion power and scope, a whole upgrade path to new ways to apply the magic, and storage.

[Digestion ~perk tier three

Living Hunger - Willpower component of magic is enhanced

Mental Hunger - Convert Digestion to an idea magic

Mind what you eat - Digesting enough similar targets creates a user comparable design]

Watching the agency the Bramble Weaver's magic showed, Mathew began to have an idea of what living hunger would do. Running his intelectus over the details proved confusing hints that lined up with his assumption. Investigating mental hunger was even worse as far as explanations went. What was clear was the conversion to idea magic would be entirely under his control. After having made so many irreversible decisions, it was nice to know some came with the status quo as an option.

Finally, mind what you eat reminded him of 4-2. Artificially making glass flesh bioforms. The mental picture of a Bramble Weaver made of distorted human flesh moaning in twisted pain interrupted his otherwise well-flowing thoughts. Still, it represented his worries quite well. Bolstering himself, Mathew felt over the option with his intelectus. The first usage was a mental design from consumed weapons. The second was his fear.

A body consumed by digestion and converted into Mathew's image. As a Carrion Beast Hybrid, his corrupted copies would be predominantly bone and exposed grey muscle with support organs deep inside. Mathew's kneejerk reaction faded because the option wasn't as bad as he'd feared.

Looking over at Ben, who hid his broken arm by manipulating the "net" of his sweater, the idea of creating minions was pretty appealing. If he lost anyone in this conquest on top of the death of a friend, they'd have to retreat, leaving the person they planned to save at risk all over again. Making minions would change everything... if they were safe.

Clare's spiders weren't people-friendly. Outside of her direct supervision, there was no guarantee of peace. With the potential for minions, if they were violent to humans by their nature, he could still use them in limited applications.

Making his first selection, living hunger took effect. Immediately the conflict in his spirit stomach shifted with digestion magic concentrating into teeth shaped purple jaws and taking bites from the ball of poison. Breaking it down into small enough parts, they lost their coherence. Smaller chunks moved with less focus until they dissolved away. What was once an uncomfortable struggle resolved in half a minute.

Before spending his last perk point, Mathew looked for the new option.

[perk tier four

Enduring corrosion - Exposure to digestion magic weakens or digests materials over time]

Mathew looked over it more and struggled. This was a good contender. Particularly given the forest he wanted to eat. Blowing out a puff of air Mathew went with his feelings. Enduring corrosion may make him better in a fight by himself, but mind what you eat would open opportunities to better prepare for combat and not have to fight alone.

Forcing himself to continue looking through his menu for anything he'd left on the table, he found two noteworthy changes to alpha phage.

[Alpha phage

Bramble Weaver - Gain the ability to consume poison

Night Stalker - Gain the ability to consume cultivation spectrums]

The advantage from consuming the baby Night Stalker would have to wait. Mathew selected Bramble Weaver slot into the lens in his throat. The fit seemed all wrong. Rather than aligned in line from mouth to stomach, it was pointing everywhere. Immediately the nonsense arrangement of the slotted ability showed its worth. Calming relief touched Mathew's burning lungs and stinging eyes. This was what it meant to be a Carrion Knight. Taking the powers of your enemy and turning them to your own cause.

Willing his status to display his health, Mathew watched the potential damage from poison rapidly drop to match the damage that was already inflicted.

[Health 4122/4310

Reserved against unknown poison -179/179]

Again Mathew affirmed that he was best equipped to take the brunt of the damage offered by the monsters. With his outstanding durability, the poison had to overcome stronger bonds to disrupt normal functions.

Having resolved the struggle within his magical stomach and having spent all the points he could, Mathew turned his mind to the situation. Having had more time to chew it over, the first comparison of a siege felt right. And they still didn't have time for it.

"Alright, I'm ready enough to continue," Mathew started. "Amber- what's that?"

Amber's pearl clawlike fingers held a short scarf out to him. "I disassembled some cold shells and sandwiched the catalyst with the bandage silk. Ben sewed 'em up like a living sewing machine. We figure we can breathe through 'em safer."

Accepting his filter scarf Mathew continued, "Thank you. Where was I? Amber, keep providing ranged support. Ben, be ready to stealth yourself and Amber if they swarm and I can't control them. Grant, you said you'd spent your ace. What did you mean?"

Grant struggled with how honest he should be. "I spoke before to clarify that my magic was rare and a rare expression of that magic on top of that. For the most part, my power is passive, doing a small amount of work all the time. I can subvert it and spend it all at once. The last ditch maneuver leaves me weaker."

"Can you safely use your shield and club to keep them off my flank?" Mathew asked.

Grant grunted, "Safe? Eh, I can do it."

"Okay, form up. We push now," Mathew punctuated his words by turning sharply and stalking towards the thorny brambles.

Closing towards the boundary, pearl and copper ethereal chains became stained green and red. Each step forward would push the death battle chain into his body, where they would disappear. When he crossed into the health stained chain, there was a sliver of power in each link. Burying worries of powering up his Carrion Beast side, Mathew kept going. No getting distracted this time. The first push of this war, he'd expected the massive growth from plundering the foundation of the spire would leave his human side far ahead of the beast side. It caught him off guard, but that wouldn't happen again. And he wouldn't fear it just because it'd fouled him once.

Speaking of things he wouldn't do again. Mathew made sure not to underestimate the threat of exhaustion tactics. Brute forcing mental control over the Bramble Weavers was a mistake bred from nervous energy. Now he could do better.

Placing his willpower into another mental attack, Mathew relaxed and gave the other division of his mind control over the details. Giving trust and just watching the results gave him further insight. The manipulations started at the edges and worked their way to where thoughts split in different directions. Sinking into the moments the mind could make decisions and installing levers for later use.

Having had time to think about it, just being disruptive was good enough for Mathew. He didn't need them to die, just to give up their Territory. That being said, he would still benefit from all the death that occurred. Mathew passed this directive to his intelectus.

Gathering bodies, Mathew walked back and forth at the end of the chain. Judging by the arc he could walk without either getting hurt by his own skill or moving closer to the Alpha, it was only twenty or thirty feet in the vines. Bodies gathered up, Mathew channeled digestion through Ripper. Concentrating some of his magic into a liquid was required to annihilate the bones. So long as they were going to stand by and let Mathew take his time he would.

A new tab opened up for him.

[Consumed designs - monsters

Bramble Weaver 19%]

Lining himself up with the Alpha, Mathew started chopping. Each swing of Ripper's bulk would cut a swath through the vines and leave corrosion behind. Running a low level of conversion continually as he did when training, the focus this time was to refill his digestion magic. He found it easier than a whole body casting. Mathew knew he'd heat up, but he had room. The hotter he got, the more heat his body would give up. With his improved temperature tolerance, he could withstand the higher steady state temperature. Working overheated like this was a risk but he chose to build a strategy to counter the exhaustion tactics.

Tense moments grew into tense minutes. Grinding away at the defenses and authority of the Bramble Weavers, Mathew expected a response. Even after cutting his way under the two story tall weave of plants, there was no response.

Senses ratcheted up; he used his mental spying to try getting a picture. The injured Alpha was retreating intermittently. Jumping from one perch to another. Each movement left lengths of stained chain behind it.

Otherwise, they were waiting.

He found what they were waiting for a hundred yards into a tunnel of plants. A larger group of normal Bramble Weavers came loping onto his range. It took the count of ten for his mental attack skill to gather from them directly.

Each carried a cultivated plant of some sort in their jaws.

"Incoming," Mathew bellowed without looking back. "Bio-weapons."

In the few moments before the next conflict popped off, Mathew made sure his mental attack intelectus prioritized making the enemy target himself over the others.

Pods and pinecones dropped from above as the Bramble Weavers performed a near ground-based rendition of a bombing run. His mental attack must be working correctly because they were so focused on Mathew that several collided wit each other and came within easy range of Ripper's edge.

Mathew skimmed for unusual danger with a quick scan of each projectile that crossed his vision. His cognition of forty-six made the gravity drop seem slow enough that he could process it.

Most of the pods or mushrooms were poison spores. They seemed to make up most of what the Alpha had expended with its magic. Pinecones and anemone looking plants exploded with poisoned shards of shells and seeds. Ignoring as they plinked off his full body armor, Mathew kept searching for a threat.

[Afterglow pod

Grown from the afterglow mushroom, this is a favorite drug for mid-level civilians. Mind-altering influence induces happiness and hallucinations]

Swinging Ripper, he spread a small cloud of digestion to eat the visible yellow puff that came from the pod. There was no way he could catch all of it. Thankfully, Amber's filter scarf seemed to be doing work. Still, the paranoid question of things being hallucinations crept into his march.

After passing overhead, the Bramble Weavers left.

Over the next half hour, they returned four times. Each time leaving with fewer. Arrows and collisions that brought them from the vines above into the danger Mathew represented weren't the only losses. A few were unable to process the poison or the dosage they were exposed to. Some times their forward push stalled out as they waited for clouds to clear some. Never for too long though the pressure wouldn't break through if they stopped.

Weight in the Alpha spectrum lashed at him, thorns and constricting vines binding him. Raising Ripper Mathew engaged living skeletal armaments. The underside of his wrist grew an alien grey muscle that webbed connections to his fingers. His grip was now fused shut.

Mathew's chained Bramble Weaver Alpha launched itself at him. Its back right leg returned to its expected shape. Showing what Clare said about most conflicts being about what resources one is willing to spend.

Dodging to the side, Mathew used the time the Alpha spent in the air to position himself. Close enough to cut away with Ripper, far enough away to avoid a direct hit.

The magnified weight from the Alpha spectrum shifted by a smaller ripple of weight. Hunger for the Alpha energy in the lieutenant was channeled into the tight grip Mathew kept on the influence of his digestion magic. The Alpha had reinforcements.

Cut but not bleeding, the Alpha leapt again. Mathew's effort to dodge worked precisely as he planned. Until the Bramble Weaver grabbed the plants to change its trajectory.

Whipping around, it used its home field advantage to drop its fangs on Mathew's thigh. Stabbing away at its neck, Mathew's counter was fouled by its front legs. Still, cuts added up, and maimed limbs lost their effectiveness.

Pain wracked his leg when beast finally broke through the thick armor of his leg. A new pressure on his sword arm from the lieutenant further fouled his efforts to bring this conflict to a conclusion.

Venting a dark purple cloud of digestion from himself and Ripper, the situation became clearer than sight for Mathew as he blinded his opponents. Keeping the cloud from covering the lower half of the lieutenant, Mathew trusted his team to continue targeting it. As the magical sense transferred to him by his cloud of digestion magic confirmed, Amber hadn't stopped her barrage.

Mathew's snapshot of what was going on ended as the beast attached to his leg ejected the rest of its poison magic, driving his own cloud back. Switching to the vision of a terrified normal weaver, he watched Grant lash out with his shimmering club. Fully charged with the echos of strikes he had landed in the recent conflict, each echo played out a brutal melody nearly overlapping each other as he expended the energy.

The lieutenant was blasted away, returning Mathew his primary weapon. Sinking the extended claws of his left hand into whatever fur or flesh he could grab, Mathew resumed stabbing. This time to disable the front legs blocking him from a finishing blow.

Fast as thought, the wounded Alpha tried retreating. Its malicious nature showed again as it leapt for Grant and his raised shield. Not content with leaving unless it inflicted harm on a follower. Swinging claws and fangs still dripping the venom it injected into Mathew's leg, it came up short. Swinging around like a dog running to the end of its leash.

Pulled taunt by the joint limits of his interconnected armor, Mathew had one foot anchored to a rock he'd cleared with his magic. His other foot was stuck to the underside of this Alpha. Sure foot held him to each object as an absolute glue. Unless the Alpha ripped out its own underbelly, it was fused to the rock by the living chain Mathew became.

Stabbing with Ripper, it became immediately apparent that even with enhanced strength, fighting while doing the splits had some drawbacks in effectiveness.

Kill it! Mathew called out with his mind.

Ripper acknowledged. Sprouting Carrion muscles tipped with barbs from the hand guard they dug into the Bramble Weaver. Contracting those muscles, Ripper artfully wove itself through the underbelly and into the ribs.

Blood drained from the body as it stopped trying to pull Mathew apart to get away. The pressure from mental attack eased as all the surviving monsters fled.

[Status of war:

Enemy reinforcement:

68%

Enemy Alphas 1

Enemy Lieutenants 1]