“You got here a lot sooner than I thought you would, Demi!” Veloura says, as I sit on top of this nice table. “Yeah, Tenztore and Sirius should have been here too, but they decided to branch off to help us stop the fighting.” Calbdin says, as he sits down in a chair next to me. “Demitallis Genesis…” Calvin says, as he sits there and stares at me...

Demi - “Hey buddy~… Yep, I’m already stronger than you!”

His eyes narrow, and magic begins to charge in his mouth-

Demi - “Just kidding!”

“That’s what I thought…” He says, as he calms down… I doubt I could survive long against that solar breath… “Yeah, you’re a big dragon, Calvin.” Flare says, as she floats up next to me, while Calvin grumbles to himself.

Demi - “So what progress have you guys made? Any idea what’s really going on here?”

“We’re certain it’s illegal weapons testing. Both sides have been hiring Mercs for their war, and we think a few of them might not be what they say the are...” Veloura whispers, as she leans in and looks around...

-√F-

“So you’re Vance, huh?...” I ask, as I stare at the tall man in green armor… “How did you know that?” He says, as he stands up and turns around to look at me. “He just does.” Tenztore says, as he walks around from behind me. “Then who are you?” Vance asks, as he puts his knife away.

“I’m Sirius, this is Tenztore.” I say, as I fold my arms… “Hmm. Tall.” He says, as he looks at Tenztore. “I’m from Genesis Haven.” Tenztore says, as he shifts his weight around slightly. “Right… I heard about it. What do you kids want?” He asks, as he turns around, and pulls out another knife from a secret compartment, and starts working on it.

“I heard you’re a war veteran turned mercenary. What’s your relation here?” I ask, as I find a box to lean against. “You just know that too?” He asks, pausing for a moment… “Fine. I’m here because I saw what was going on. I don’t want what happened to MY home to happen to these people.” He says, as he puts away the knife with the rest, and starts on the NEXT one.

“I lost my home too, and my mother.” Tenztore says. “So have I. Kind of. My parents were murdered. I left my home behind…” I say, as I look to the open sky above us. “You’re the son of Pollux Bask… Aren’t you?... So you should be a Kraken.” He asks, moving on quickly to a larger knife…

“Yeah… Now that I think about it- How many of those do you have- Anyways. I fought a woman named Solasara… She had this weird portal magic, I was wondering if you knew anything about her?” I ask, causing him to stop again.

He returns to it after shaking his head- “Classified. And no, I doubt that. Solasara’s pretty legendary, there’s no way she’d go down to some kid.” He says, irking me a little… “It does sound pretty hard to believe.” Tenztore says, as I contemplate whether I will start shouting at them or not...

“She tried to drop a comet on top of Ryleth-” I say, but he shook his head again- “Doesn’t sound like her. Besides, she’s never really shown that kind of power output before…” He says, as he continues to do whatever he does to his blades…

“What are you even doing?” I ask, as I walk around to see him flowing mana into the blades. “Sharpening, and repairing them. They’re tough, but not perfect. The blades are made of a special metal that goes around the bones, here wait-” He says, as he disassembles the knife.

“This is a small piece of bone I got from a guardian. I took it out with the help of a hunting party, and lost about two of our members, but it also taught me not to get in over my head…” He says, as he shows off the bone sticking out of the handle of the blade, then reattaches the blade itself.

He places it on the table, and pulls out ANOTHER blade- I think I count thirty? “I’ve fought Ocean Kings. Overgrown guardians of the ocean. Thanks to my strength and powers, I would usually win, or get out with a few injuries.” I say, recalling my own ventures with the powerful creatures…

“Well, thanks for the help I guess. Come on, Tenztore.” I say, deciding to move on. “Do you think anyone else in our family might be here?” I ask, as we walk toward the main building. “I’ve been on the network lately, Steriya’s been setting up pylons to extend its range. Aribora and Talliopy are here, turns out.” He says, as he guides me through the main building, where they must be staying.

“Hey!” He says, startling the two little fairies. “Tenztore, don’t look at us like that!” The green one says, as the pink one just stares at him. “Hi, I’m Sirius, the Kraken.” I say, as I walk up to the table. “Oh- Celest’s boyfriend!” She shouts, making me slap my forehead- “No!” I shout back!

“I’m sorry!” She says, as the room stills… “Sorry, I’m still not used to controlling my tone on land…” I say, as I pull out a chair and sit in it. “Oh, it’s fine. Tally here and I have been trying to keep everyone on this side passive.” She says, surprising me.

“Good job, then. Have you been able to discover anything?” I ask, causing Tally to nod, and create some sort of illusion on the table. “Yeah, we’ve been sharing information between us here, and the others in the rebel territory. I’m sure you’ve met the mayor, right?” She asks. “Yeah, I have.” I quickly say, as I think about it more…

Right, the Mayor… I’m still surprised Capital hasn’t sent any reinforcements or resources to stabilize this city. I guess Serif of the world powers don't care… The Mayor is… A strange man. He’s a chameleon-demihuman, he’ll just stand there, while you try and figure out what you’re staring at…

“He’s funny, right?” She says, as she lightly claps her hands. “Yeah, I guess. Is that normal for Demihumans?” I ask, as I point a thumb towards the door, causing her to simply shrug. “I’m a mythical creature, so I wouldn’t know.” She says, as Talliopy changes the color of her hair-

“I wouldn’t know either. Not that you asked.” Tenztore says, as he continues to stand there. “Sorry.” I say. “It’s fine.” He replies. “Anything else?” I ask, returning to the topic at hand. “Nothing Veloura wouldn’t tell you. We’re busy anyways, come on Tally.” She says, grabbing her friend’s arm, causing them to somehow disappear- Oh right, illusions…

“Alright, you talk to Veloura, Tenztore. I’m gonna’ get to work.” I say, as I pull out of my seat.

-√A-

Demi - “Do we have a set of suspects?”

“Not MUCH, but a few… That Vance guy has been looking pretty sus-sus though. Aribora and Talliopy have been watching him, they say he’s been sneaking off weirdly, and talking to someone.” She says, as something suddenly appears in my mana-zone...

It’s a special thing I’ve been working on to add to my Mana Zone Skill, it’s a special super-nerve connection that will react when something enters the area… Sadly, by the time they do, they’ll probably notice the mana in the air, and well, I can’t really tell WHERE they are, just that they’re close. Moving on~

Bearing Blast! Everyone jolts into action as I destroy the door with a bearing, causing it to shatter instantly, allowing me to see there’s nobody there… Nobody should have been there to bother us in the first place though, so somebody was definitely spying on us…

Demi - “Someone was at the door, they must have run off. They were trying to spy on us.”

“You’re certain-” Veloura asks, as she walks over to inspect the door, as I notice people staring at it… And the large metal orb sticking to the wall behind it. “What were they doing here- How long were they sitting there?” She asks, as she pokes her head out of the door frame.

Demi - “For a few minutes. Just sitting there, not knocking on the door at all… I doubt they overhead much, though.”

She shudders a little, as I jump over and grab the broken off door handle, so I can start building a new metal door. “Yeesh, not a fan.” She says, as I build the metal bits around the weird looking hinges. Yeah, they still use hinges here, they’re just a little weird looking… I finally finish the door, and move out of the way.

“That’s a pretty neat trick, Demi.” Flare says, as she floats over to look at it. “What’d you make it out of?” She asks, as she inspects it.

Demi - “Pure titanium, I didn’t want it to be too heavy. Although, now that I think about it, I guess that wouldn’t really be a problem here. You know, I’ve been getting into clockwork lately, Demistar was kind of showing me how it’s done.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” She says, as I jump back on the table, and she floats back. “I was actually thinking of trying out cooking, maybe I could get myself a book.” She says, as she sits down next to me again, while Veloura returns to her seat. “Guys-” She says.

Demi - “Oh, I bet you would be great at that! Yeah, I was hoping that if I learned clockwork, it would give me a better grasp at learning magic.”

“Oh yeah… All the complexity and moving parts, I think I see what you mean.” She says, as I construct a very simple clockwork mechanism. “Shouldn’t we get back to-” Veloura tries to say, as the little mechanism begins to mesmerize us in its infinite motion…

Demi - “Hey Calbdin! Have you been up to anything cool lately?”

“Eh… Not really, mostly just helping Tenztore out, while improving on my tracking skills. Actually, I think he might know something about clockwork, you should ask him.” He says, surprising me. “I-I’ve been doing some combat training with Veyta and Glant, I figured I’d need it...” Veloura says, as she pokes her fingers.

She sighs and slaps her head- “Guys, we don’t have time for this, come on…”

Demi - “Sorry, I just thought it was cool. So I wanted to tell you guys about it.”

She just stares at me. “Don’t- It’s fine. Let’s just move on.” She says, as I notice Calvin looking particularly left out. “Anyways, now that we have YOU here, Demitallis. I was thinking you could sneak into their ranks, maybe hiding in the armor of a double-agent. Flare and I will be figuring out who was messing with our door. Calbdin and Calvinaz can try and keep both sides passive. Talliope’s team will also be trying to keep the other side passive for the time being.”

Demi - “Alright, sounds good. Just tell me who to infect, and I’ll do the rest!’

“Infect?” Flare asks, as she stares at me-

Demi - “Yeah! I can get inside of a body, if I make myself small enough!”

Everyone but Calvin backs up, gesturing to me to stay away from them. “Okay… Creeper... There’s another merc named Imp, he sneaks off a lot and he’s pretty reclusive. If it turns out he’s NOT working for the bad guy, come back and I’ll give you another merc to try.” She says, as she shows me a photo of the man in his armor...

Demi - “Imp, huh?”

“Yeah, he’s a loudmouth know-it-all. I saw him hitting on a few of the girls outside the bar. I didn’t even know they were women, until they went up to them. Everyone wears so much armor here…” She says, as she looks down.

Demi - “But what’s he called Imp?”

“He’s like an Imp? I don’t know. Just get going already.” She says, shrugging, so I decide to jump down from the table.

Demi - “Well, I’ll go get started then.”

“Thanks, Demi!” She says, as I slip under the doorway, and find myself on the other side. Yeah, no problem… I look around to see some people cleaning up the mess, who then look at me.

Demi - “Right- Sorry about the door, I thought someone was trying to spy on us.”

They just stare at me then return to what they were doing… I said sorry, and I’m kind of busy. I decide to just swim on over to the door and slip under it too. See what I did there? I’m made of water, so… I’ll move on.

I continue to look around, many many people in full body armor, some with and without their helmets on. I need to figure out why EVERYONE needs so much armor… After a while, I finally found the guy impressing a couple of soldiers with his skills.

I shrink down some more. “Yeah, he thinks HE’S got a temper. Hah! He ain’t got mine!” He says, as I slip by and into his shoe. No I’m not actually going to infect him, I just figured I’d screw with them a little. Besides, I’d have to go through his ear or something, I think he’d notice.

And, as though it was predestined- “Looks like I gotta’ head out guys. You know how it is, ‘nother contract. Come get me if you’re still alive when I get back!” He says, walking away as I travel up his suit and into a special pocket in his armor.

Upon closer inspection, these guys are covered in a tight jumpsuit that seems to regulate body temperature, much like the Exoterrastar Suit. The helmet seems to use some kind of mana shield for basic filtering. I guess it’s pretty useful all around, no wonder everyone wears it.

Hell, sometimes you’ll see people just wearing the jump-suit itself. Maybe the Exoterrastar Suit was supposed to come with armor, much like these… That would explain the lack of certain functions and any way to recharge itself… Although, it has to be ALIVE to produce mana, so…

Living armor? Is that even a thing? I think Arigold wanted to turn ME into a suit of armor, supposedly puddle kids like me would be great suits of armor, to him... God that sounds disgusting, I’m so glad I got away… But yeah, I guess that would have made ME living armor.

“Hey, I’m here sir. Yeah, it’s right here, just as you said.” Imp says, after activating a communicator on his armor. I look around, but I can’t seem to find anything- I suddenly notice some sort of tractor beam lifting us into the air, as I look up to see a large looking ship.

We float into what seems to be a large cargo bay, and the hatch shuts below us, allowing Imp to land. “Hey, got the weird slime thing right here!” Wait what- I look over to spot an old looking man with a cane on the railing. He steps onto an Elevator and it slowly descends.

I jump away from Imp, and he reaches for me- I clamp around his hand! “Ah- What the, get off me!” He shouts, as I slip past his arm and around his neck! “Try anything and I crush his Vocal Cords!” I shout, as I begin to grow to a more combat suitable size.

He steps off the elevator, surrounded by four guards as multiple mercenaries pile into the room. “By all means, I’m sure he would enjoy it.” He says approaching as I begin to squeeze- “N-No, I would very much not! Guys, come on!” He shouts in response, as a Merc in thinner looking armor jumps down, landing with his jet pack.

“Just stay calm.” He says in a light yet raspy voice. “What are you doing?” Imp says, as the man reaches to my surface with an open palm- “A Puddle Kid.” He continues, as he places his hand on my surface and I’m suddenly overwhelmed with pain-

I land on the floor, as I begin to come to my senses, and I bolt away! “What was that?!” I shout, as everyone just stares at me… “An old trick.” He says, as he approaches me… “Who are you?” I ask, as I slip between two metal crates… “They call me…” He says, as he slides the crates out of his way…

“Moth Pendulum Revile.” He says, as he reaches for me again, and I bounce away-

Demi - “Don’t you touch me with that- Do you have any idea how painful it is?!”

“Is it now…” he continues as he pulls something from his pocket- It’s an orb… He tosses over me and it suddenly deploys into a large net! I try to slip past but I feel myself get zapped…

Demi - “How did you know?”

He looks back at Imp, who’s been following close behind him. “Bossman did, said he saw you on your way in. These men surrounding you are Bounty Hunters. You see, you and your family have HUGE bounties on your heads.” He chuckles as he points back at them all.

“Yeah, he figured he’d need all this help to capture you, never thought it would be so easy.” He continues as he kneels down to stare at me, while he gestures to the bounty hunters. They’re all wearing custom armor. Nothing like the full body Armor the mercs around Everessence has been...

“Funny thing though, you’ve got your OWN bounty. So we’d either have to grab up your ENTIRE family, which nobody wants to do. Or we grab YOU, and get an easier payment.” He continues as I think of a way out… “Bounty-Dono stayed Anonymous, but whoever this guy is, he’s damn loaded.”

Demi - “Wow, you really don’t EVER shut up.”

He shrugs. “It’s a gift!” He says, as he continues- “Boss man said he’d triple my pay, if I helped the guys here out.” I begin drilling into the ground… “Just curious… Who’d issue such a large bounty on YOUR head?” He asks, as I sit here silently… “Shut up already...” Moth says, as he shoves Imp away. “Hey-”

I slip into the hole I drilled open, easily escaping! “Sweep and clear!” He shouts, as I run swiftly through the inner-workings of the ship and further away.

I burst out of a side panel in a room with two of the crew members. “What the-” One of them says, as I blast and knock him out with a Bearing shot, destroying his helmet! “Oh hell no!” The other screams in a deeper voice, as he runs over to a button!

He’s knocked out before he can reach it though, his own helmet shattering to reveal part of his face too. It seems that these guys are supplying the armor, it’s very similar to what’s being used in Everessence. Well, what the guards are using seems to be a bit more advanced.

I pull the less broken helmet off the man’s head, and examine it further… There seems to be a hud, with lots of writing on the upper right corner- I look back at the man’s arm, it has a monitor on it, probably a datapad for controlling the helmet. Well, I probably won’t find anymore info messing with some guy’s to-do list, so I’ll move on.

I crawl around inside of the door, seeping and spreading through multiple crevices until I find a path to the other side. I pull myself out through the path I found, impressing myself a little with my accomplishment here.

One of the bounty hunters spots me, and reaches for a button on his belt. I blast it with a bearing shot, destroying the gadget instantly! “Shit-” He hisses, as he reaches for a gun. I bounce against the wall then the roof, while he fires a bullet at me.

I caught another bullet, maybe I’ll make this ability into a special skill of mine- The bounty hunter is a Canine Demihuman, bulldog breed. I latch around his neck, and he tries to shoot me off, but I simply catch more bullets. “Are you seriously this dumb?” I ask, as I begin to squeeze.

“AUGH! We’ll see, you little-” He says, as he pulls out a large looking rifle- Too fast! I burst a large opening, allowing the bullet to hit the wall behind us- I don’t think I can catch sniper rounds yet… I continue to squeeze while he fires more and more rounds, forcing me to slightly let go each time.

It’s beginning to take way longer than it should, I need to get out of here, before they figure out where I am!

-√0-

I am Venetiur, I’ve been fighting a civil war within my country for most of my life, ever since I turned sixteen. I’m now thirty-two, and my hopes of making it out alive dwindles by the second…

“Venetiur, while it’s nice to see you, your team still needs you.” Chorim says, her long orange hair glowing like a bright magma waterfall… “Yeah, a mortar cannon misfired during maintenance, and Azure sent me out to see if anyone got hurt. Luckily, nobody did.” I say, giving a simple report.

I lean in and comically whisper to her- “Not gonna’ lie, I don’t think he likes me-” I say, after having spent multiple years with him. “I’m sure you would be certain if he likes you.” She says, as she folds her arms.

“So… New assistant?” I ask, as we look at the callbox. “Yeah, he was working for one of the mercs, named Silger. I think he was an intern, he said he didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I took him in.” She says, as the floor beneath her chair suddenly springs open and the chair descends into a tunnel.

“Um?” I ask, as I walk around the table, to see the tunnel. “Escape plan V.” She says, as the escape hatch shuts. “Oh. Is the delay dramatic timing?” I ask. “No. It’s supposed to activate at the evil laugh. It did not. Now go, I’m still busy.” She says, forcing me to comply and salute her.

“You got it!” I say, before leaving!

…

“Azure, I’m back~!” I shout, as I come into communications range, and the symbols of my three other teammates light up. “That took longer than it needed to, Venetiur. I was also informed that you- Interfered with a battlefield!!!” I laugh it off as always, only making him more angry.

The first one out to see me is my close buddy Lisk, him and I are basically inseparable. “Hey man.” I say, as I wave lightly. “I hate you.” He says, making me laugh once more. “Good one Lisk, as always.” I say, as we make our way through our seemingly rundown base.

Lisk here wears a cloak over his Dijon colored armor, while he uses his laser rifle to help him walk. He broke his leg a while back, we’re waiting to finish the war, before we go and get it fixed.

We find ourselves delving deeper and deeper into the base, where the Reps won’t find us. “I’m going to return to guard duty, feel free to go kill yourself.” He says, before returning to his guard duty.

“Hey, Azure~!” I say, as I hold out my arms for a hug, the moment I see the team leader- He throws a punch at my face, but my reflexes manage to block it with my arm! “What do you think you’re doing, interfering with other squads?!” He shouts, as we lower our arms.

“Calm down, man. They were going to lose that fight anyway, so I saved them.” I say, getting a little more serious. “Whatever, just go find Turi, and get back to maintenance!” He says, as he returns to whatever he does all day.

“Alright!” I say, walking into the next room, where I assume Turi should be. “Hey Turi, you here?!” I call out, which is soon answered by him jumping on me! “Haha, gotcha!” He says, as I pick myself up, knocking him off me-

“Yeah, you got me man. Are you done with your work?” I ask, as he stands up, revealing his long hair. “I’d love to help, but I can’t. Still busy!” He says, as he shows off one of the weapons he’s been repairing in his jack-pack. It’s a cool little gadget developed by one of the head mechanics of the golden kingdom.

I finally return to the heavy ordnance, most of these guns can take out men like us in one shot! Well, I better get back to work!

-√A-

Bolts of lightning fly past the wall struts as I hide behind it, there’s two more of the bounty hunters. They seem to be twin goblin sisters, they’re pretty aggressive. I didn’t get a chance to destroy their communicators, but it seems they’re not too loyal to the original plan anyways.

One of them begins to approach after she stops firing, so her friend’s gonna’ cover her I assume. I finish drilling into the wall, and just like last time, I slip through. I’ll take them out later, they’ve got some mean teamwork.

I flow through the wall, looking for the man behind all of this. Well, I assume the old guy is the one Imp was referring to… These walls are pretty damn tough, so it makes them pretty damn annoying to break through. It’d be easy if I could just grab and crush it, but it’s too smooth to do that either…

If I tried, I could break through it with a bearing shot, but that would be too loud… So yeah, this is how I have to do it, just kind of push my water through slowly… I finally slip through and- Oh god dammit- I snake my way across the ground, keeping myself spread thin…

It’s ANOTHER bounty hunter… Doing this is dangerous, if he were to hit me in the right spot, I could die in just one shot… On the other hand, I should be pretty hard to spot, so I should be able to get to him-

I pull myself together and build up right under him- I continue to grow and grow as he suddenly feels me against his feet, and reaches for his communicator- I blast it and he quickly fires bullets at me! I catch each of them as I begin to submerge him!

He tries to escape, but I pull him in and begin to lightly squeeze him until I fire him out just like one of my bearing shots! His body’s been crushed and broken lightly everywhere now, and he should be knocked out.

I quickly break through another wall, this time opting to just smash it like how I was talking about- That should distract them. After a few more encounters, I finally find the guy, and drop on him! “What in the world-” He says, as I hold him in place!

Demi - “Gotcha, bitch! What’s REALLY going on here? Answer me or I’ll crush you to death!”

“Alright, alright!” He says, as I hold him in place, while leaving his head free.

Demi - “YOU’VE been supplying these people with weaponry and men- Both sides! You’re trying to choke them out, they’d probably have achieved peace by now if you would just leave them alone! Why are you doing this?!”

“Science! Field-testing! This City is completely generic and in the perfect spot, of course I want it! Once they’ve wiped each other out, I’ll use it for field testing my super weapons I’ve been developing!” He says, floating there...

Demi - “Listen, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re either going to leave these people alone, or I’m gonna’ start taking limbs!”

He starts trying to squirm, so I begin to crush his arm- “Dammit! Moth!” He shouts, as I suddenly notice the bounty hunter standing right behind me with his hand stretched out-

I come to my senses once more, and pull myself together. I spot them talking to each other, as I shrink myself in size, the smaller the better, I can’t beat that man-

Moth suddenly realizes something, and turns around to lunge at me- I cover myself in a metal orb! “What in the…” He says, as I feel him pick me up… I try to break it, but I can’t…

This may have been a bad idea… “What is it, some sort of time capsule? Or is it… You don’t think it’s stuck in there, do you?” The old guy asks, as I fail to break out of the weird alloy I made…

Oh god I can’t break it- No, I’ll make my way out, it’s not invincible… “Definitely in there…” Moth says. “How can you tell?” Silence. “Well, you have your quarry. Just give me my cut, and we won’t have to see each other ever again. .” He says.

“Not just yet.” Moth says- “What now?” The old guy asks. “It needs containment.” He says, surprising me. “It’s ALREADY been contained. I doubt anyone on this ship even has mana dense enough to help.” He says, as I continue to think of a way to escape…

“On the ship.” Moth continues, as I try building more water, but it just condenses my body- How tough IS this thing?! “Well, I guess it MIGHT break out, do the same thing it’s been doing to my ship… Alright, I’ll see about a super lock.” He says, as I continue to try and break out…

“I’ll contact Arigold.” Moth says, before the sound of a door sliding open- “Wait, Arigold is after this thing? Right, I’ll see about improved containment right away…” The old guy, who I somehow STILL don’t know the name of, says, as his voice grows more distant…

Everything is silent while I feel the subtle pressure of the air against the metal orb, as I’m basically forced to sensitize myself to the smallest of stimuli.

I think I may be able to get my mana out, but I don’t want them to have any certainty that I’m even in here… They would spot a mana line from a mile away. Maybe something just above the surface though, maybe if I could use it to absorb light and its information and return it to my mind, so I can see…

I’ll get to work on that, see ya’.

End of Chapter: 36√AF_1 “Situated in deference…”

Thank you for reading.

“Thanks, now let me focus on my knives…”

“Hey, thanks for reading- uh- ‘Wet World Wonderland’? I don’t know about this man, I think the name’s kinda weird…”

“Now why would I do that?”

“Thanks for reading.”

“Thanks for the help… My brother and I- Oh, rude… Thanks for reading, I guess?” - “Yeah, thanks, whatever.”

“Augh… What? Screw off, kid…”

“Read more, and other stories too, assholes!”

“I hate my life... But thanks, I guess?”

“Where’d you even come from, guy? Oh- No problem! Thanks for reading!”

“Should we?” - “Nah, come on sis.”

“Get it off me- Get it off me- What? I’m okay! Haha! Oh? Sure? Thanks for reading? Now what’s my cut? Are you serious?... Oh, I’ll kill you!”