Morval pulled his spear back only on instinct as it collided with the smaller wyrm. The damage to it was already done, however.

The greater wyrm still soared above everything, the chaos, the spears of stone, the reaper ant's foul mist, and what very well may have been its dead progeny.

Shocks of some kind seemed to ripple across its body, looking like it had felt great pain. It seemed stiffened, like several parts of its body could not be moved, no matter how hard it tried.

The magefire across its body abruptly changed, and it began to curve away from the ground, as though it was no longer interested in diving back within. It looked as though it would land on several of the Spears. That would likely be painful.

Without much thought, Morval began to run to the place the Wyrm would land. He could only imagine one reason why, after he had already been at full sprint; Enemy Sense was not alerting him. At all. He was not being watched by, or observe, any enemies within a gratuitous distance of himself.

The greater wyrm was either dead, or had no ill will towards them, even after the mana explosives killed its possible progeny and clearly wounded itself. If it was alive, Morval wanted to be there immediately.

Anything a wyrm didn't die from, it could survive. Hopefully.

The greater wyrm was going to smash into the ground soon. Several System notifications pinged in Morval's mind, but he set them aside. Probably just Levels. Nothing much of worry right now. Hopefully, everyone else nearby had the mind to secure themselves against the results of the impact; because Morval did.

He ducked behind the stem of a rock formation, a little over twice his width, and still he remained huddled against it as though his life depended on it.

The wyrm struck the ground, unleashing a breathless screeching from its collision with the Spears below it heard only just before its body struck the ground with a series of clangs, sounding like a sword and shield colliding violently.

After the shockwave passed Morval, he moved out from his hiding space to give the wyrm a brief look. It wasn't moving yet. He glanced back at the Fieldhall, seeing only a few people having been thrown backwards, unprepared. Concussions and broken but mendable arms would be the worst of the injuries, hopefully.

Morval resumed his trek towards the wyrm. He could hear what was likely Cade distantly behind him, smaller explosions of mana cleaning up any of the remaining bloodlight under their barrier. Realistically, he should remain on guard. There was still a Blood Moon above.

He simply kept his mana shield up, for as long as he could, and charged to the wyrm's side.

There were... no noticable wounds to it, if Morval could even begin to describe himself as knowing anything about the body of a wyrm. But still, Morval knew something about this wasn't right. Parts of its... shell... were clearly warped, and a part of what looked like its tail joint was split open like a wooden wall hit with a sufficiently sized rock.

Perhaps that was exactly what had happened, as the stone formations Morval thought it would probably be impaled by were broken, shoved off to the sides, if not shattered outright.

This wyrm was easily twice the size of the reaper ant, and yet it probably weighed so much more, to shatter that stone like it did. And really, Morval felt its size could not be overstated.

Morval was doubting now whether running to the wyrm's landing would really be of any use. He couldn't help it anywhere; he knew nothing of where to start on this creature.

The wyrm began to ripple slightly, but... not in the normal way.

From points around its shell-like skin came a tide of silver, sliding all over the surface of its body. Where the tides passed, minor wounds seemed to be left covered in this liquid, and when abandoned shortly after they looked to be in perfect condition again.

That gleaming pitch black of the starless sky. The dream of that falling star's descent.

Morval looked at his Quest again.

A Star Cannot Cry - Legendary Unique

Go to the Spears of Stone.

Look up.

The Star has found you. Ask it, and it will answer... but be cautious.

Oh.

Zenith was having a hard time observing much of anything right now, but what it did have it was focusing on the odd human to its side. He stared vacantly ahead for a moment, doing nothing of interest after rushing forward to meet Zenith for... what, exactly?

Questions, questions, Zenith had many questions. This human seemed an important, knowledgable figure... at least, for the ones it had met so far. How many could Zenith ask? How many would it answer?

The dumb AI in charge of repairing Zenith was given a limited quantity of Zenith's remaining spybot population. Most in the surrounding area had already been wiped clean, unfortunately, through either contact with the red energy or subspace radiation. More were being produced to fill in the gaps, however construction nanobots took priority.

Zenith needed to find sufficient means to deploy a different frequency of subspace radiation on an insanely small scale. If Zenith could get the gap in its core segment, intentionally reserved for an undedicated fine molecular reconstructor, it wouldn't have to repurpose nanobot factories for the purpose of making more raw materials. It was wasteful.

Zenith began the careful process of detaching the construction tank, which immediately startled the human as the tank's legs began to separate from Zenith's main chassis. With the assistance of the finer guiding sticks and its own ability to extend its legs, it crawled down to from Zenith's upper half to the ground, at one point a leg having to magnetically attach to a small section of damage caused by the explosive energy projector. The remaining metal plating was sturdy, however, and this caused no perceivable issue.

The human backed away from Zenith's body slowly. Zenith caught a distinct "What is wrong with this creature?" and -

Damage sustained to exoskeletal frame, subspace radiation cannons on both sides and below, and connecting brackets between core and tail segments. The thought was forced into Zenith's mind. A dumb AI alarmed at Zenith, unknown energies detected in the AI core. Non-harmful... so far.

Similar energies seemed to swarm the human below, a connection the dumb AI had immediately made. Was this human trying to harm it?

No, no - probably not. It had to have seen what its subspace radiation was capable of doing to Zenith's vessel already. Why try this?

Information? That was a viable alternative. Zenith began hard-disconnecting several of its data segments. They would require nanobots to come and repair the connection. That human had just made Zenith speak, somehow.

However... it was related to the question it had asked directly. And it had called Zenith a creature.

In the second Zenith took processing, the human seemed to freeze. The energies dispersed from the human after some time, but seemed to remain circling Zenith's core. Somehow. Remember, normal physics are not to be assumed here...

Examination of the energies in Zenith's core were difficult. Not only was there obvious interference from Zenith's own systems, but the energies seemed to be shifting from one to another in impossible ways. No pattern was yet found. Zenith needed more time to observe, or better yet - "What is your name, Great Wyrm?"

ZENITH-X02-F1 - the energy was around the human again, and Zenith was definitely upset.

Zenith had responded with its real designation. Not the fake "official" one usually given out. This human was forcing it to speak, it was certain.

The AI examined the energy localized around its core.

Ping. These memory segments are ready to be safely detached, came one dumb AI.

Then do it! was Zenith's sharp and slightly hostile reply, making it aware of its own stress. The dumb AI wouldn't understand or be able to respond, but still, it needed its authorization. Another ping, however. The energy was around the human again. Had it heard it? Not good. There was a necessity to preserving information. If it could even understand Zenith's internal communications...

I should really speak with my Guild about this before proceeding... thought Morval.

Then do it! came the voice again, directly into his mind. The Wyrm. Though, describing it as a voice was a little inaccurate.

It was like an understanding. And the hostility in ZENITH-X02-F1's mind-voice was not encouraging.

Be careful, the quest had warned him. Morval hurried off, still attentive to the strange behaviours behind it, with that four-legged insect-like creature frozen still next to the Wyrm. Although, Morval had one last question.

"Wyrm..." No. Be respectful. "Zenith-X02-F1... Will you survive?"

Yes. Repairs already underway.

That was a relief. Morval would have his Guild expand their small village of pocket houses in the Wyrm's direction, then. Better to make use of its protection, as a sign of submission if nothing else.

Though why it had not chosen to return underground, Morval was not certain. Lan would have a better understanding of its wounds, if he had a chance to check them out. Probably.

As he reached the Fieldhall, the corpses of the three fallen were already being gathered in front, small cubes expanding to produce coffins of stone.

The families of two of the fallen were invited out to say goodbyes before the coffins were closed again. The other was already without kin.

That practical part of Morval came back, glad they seemed to have died quickly. No more creatures of bloodlight seemed to be approaching, so Lan made his way down from the roof, Cade already having come down to give her brief funeral rites.

Lan and Cade knew that look; Morval was uncertain, yet again. It was that complicated look he showed, even if he wasn't aware of it. Morval's open features made everyone in the Guild trust him even more, though he seemed to be unaware of it.

"What is the trouble?" Cade asked.

"That Wyrm... it is the Star we have been chasing. Somehow. And it seems to answer questions."

"It must be wounded. I would like to see. To make sure its wounds will not harm us."

"I have asked its status and it has said it will survive. Something else about... fixing itself. I believe it is healing itself."

"If it is capable of healing itself, should we really be worried about some kind of sickness within it?"

"I... did not have the mind to ask that myself, to be truthful. But..."

"I think Cade is right. Well... I will still take a look, if that's fine with you." Lan paused. "But the next important question waits."

"And that is?"

"What is the next Quest objective, Morval? You look too troubled for it to be something good."

"Oh. Ah. Well, as I said, the Wyrm, Zenith-X02-F1, seems to answer questions... though the objective says to be cautious."

"That's... concerning." said Cade. "I will go get Itval. She may know more." She turned to jog inside, passing the families who hadn't quite had the time to start grieving over their lost son and daughter, respectively. The others, unconnected to those who had fallen, seemed to have an expression of great respect for Cade as she passed.

Itval should have been... somewhere. Cade slowed to a halt, not actually certain where to find her.

She would either be in the left hall, helping to keep the children calm with her stories, or maybe the front hall... no, Cade couldn't see her in the front hall...

Itval came around the bend from the right hall, at a jog herself. She almost ran past Cade before she had turned to join her, others clearing the way for two of the most important individuals in the Guild.

"Have you ever heard of the System warning caution?"

"What? Why?"

"The Star. It's nearby, and Morval spoke with it." Itval started sprinting, Cade having to take a breather between words keeping up. "The quest says... huh... 'be cautious'."

There was a pause in their conversation. Itval spoke only just before they came through the front hall, just outside of Morval's hearing range, presumably.

"Yes. I have heard of it. It isn't good to act rash. Tell me he didn't." She slowed, the two almost joining with Lan and Morval to form something akin to one of their old hunting parties.

Cade shrugged. "I don't know. What, exactly, he asked, hasn't been explained."

The human running off was a blessing in disguise, because, it seemed, the questions it was asking his friends were not requirements for Zenith to answer.

Though, Zenith found itself annoyed at being thought of as "sick" again. It postulated that if a Lesser War AI were here, it would have the construction-tank equivalent detonate that crossbow-wielding wildlife expert with a foreign object to the head.

As if Zenith hadn't just planned out the destruction of several creatures to ensure its own survival... well, maybe not so much with the first blood-ant... that was just experimentation. Cruelty, Annabelle would call it when addressed officially by any other race.

Necessary sacrifices, Annabelle would call it in private, with that same cold tone.

Zenith could perhaps attempt to ruin any chance for information-gathering of that human's method by scrambling an already incoherent message. Now would most definitely be the time to add codes and encryptions to all dumb AI platforms, if Zenith so wished.

The energy remained around Zenith's core, and... flexed for a moment, before resuming normality. Except... now it was almost the same as its prior state. The only exceptions being when some of it was present to interact with the human, as well.

Pattern found.

Isolating the energy pattern and comparing, Zenith found much less difficulty in uncovering exactly what energies were present. Zenith still couldn't really do anything about it. Some energies were on the subspatial and superspatial radiation spectrums, which Zenith would not be able to emulate the proper neutralizing counters to.

Not this close to its AI core. Zenith had not brought any of the backups whole, simply disassembling them entirely for other useful materials. To be truthful, it was not necessary.

Most of the energy that this System and the Humans who were reliant on it seemed to be based in subspatial and superspatial spectrums. Zenith had yet to observe any of the respective matters, but it wouldn't be surprised if both were avoiding its detection. If angled right, they very well could.

Zenith could emulate a useful enough portion of the subspatial radiation spectrum, but the superspatial would require the creation of a singularity.

How in the hell is this radiation here without my being extremely dead?

Wait, silence. Zenith culled processes again, limiting itself to what it needed to do itself and offloading everything else to dumb AI that would probably do things correctly. The construction tank immediately began to scamper off, towards the worm that had its day absolutely ruined, with a load of construction nanobots swarming along its main body.

The four humans approaching seemed to either ignore it, like the ranger-guy in the lead, or glance at it worriedly, like the librarian-woman at the rear. The clear leader took up the right side, passing his eyes between the tank, its destination, and Zenith's own body.

The one who clearly was capable of wielding the most subspace radiation, based on their activities earlier, took up the left, its eyes clearly focused more on Zenith's shifting shell as the nanobots swarmed about, repairing what they could.

Ping. The dumb AI in charge of the repair requested Zenith flip itself over. Quick simulations indicated that this could be done with no additional damage, assuming Zenith used the still-functioning energy projectors on its upper side to wrap around its entirety. Nanobots scattered off of its vessel, and giving it a good few meters around the edges, startling the approaching humans at the sudden formation of an amorphous pile of the silver goop.

Cade was already on edge when the Wyrm seemed to expel some of its shell as if to make a tall barrier between it and them, but when she saw the flashing of unrecognized energy spread across its body from the top down, she tensed up, readying some of the more complicated mana manipulation techniques that required less mana but much more mental finesse. It would be all she could to protect them from an attack.

Then the creature simply rolled over, more directly exposing its wounds to them. Was it inviting them to help or something?

As it turned the wounds such that they were definitely inaccessible, at great height above them on top of its body, she dismissed that idea. When the not-mana shield was dismissed around its body and the silvery part-shell swam back across and up its shell to its most obviously wounded areas, she released her constructs without fuel. It appeared this Wyrm meant them no harm.

The giant slave-creature that was previously a part of its shell was approaching again. It was carrying the largest section of the other Wyrm's corpse, some of the silver... whatever it was crawling all over it. When the Wyrm's corpse was abruptly dropped next to this Zenith X02 F1, I will have to find further information on Greater Wyrms and names, parades of the silver tide broke from it, swapping out with other portions of the shell to carry parts of the lesser Wyrm to the wounded sites.

Was this its method of... eating?

"Zenith X02 F1," began Morval, as Lan slowly approached further than the rest of the group had. "What is it you are here for? Why have you fallen from the sky?" That was the first two questions they had decided, unilaterally, to ask the creature.

I am here because - - unknown. I have fallen from the sky - Wormhole Generator... Understanding, and misunderstanding, pierced Morval's mind, giving him a minor headache on its way in. Morval relayed this to his companions as best he could.

Keep your distance. I am - - not sickened. Morval was assaulted by this when Lan continued to approach. He nearly shouted at Lan to stay away from the beast, who hastily backed away, empty hands level with his head.

"Are you really a Wyrm?" said Cade, behind him. He looked back. He heard nothing from Zenith-X02-F1. Cade looked at the rest, shrugging. It didn't answer her, evidently.

Morval turned back, asking the same question. The response he got was not appreciated, and he clutched his head.

I am not a Wyrm - - what am I? Data hidden - hidden from me - Ũ̵̺̜̦̾̓͌̀͊n̸̞͎͔̞̙̞̝̩͎̞̞̣̄̓̾̉̀͘g̵̜͍͚̼̩̘͚̹͕̼͎̀͒͌̐͂̑͛̚͘r̶̛̯̺̠͚̳̘̮̃͛̈̍̆̓̿͒̓̂̿͝ạ̶̻̼̬̝̼̟̺͓͚̗̭̰̻̓̓̐͑͐̕ͅt̵̼͇̻̹͒̀͛e̷̳͖͔̾̽̿f̴̨̱͙͖̬̮̠̺͈̪̠̩͓̍̏̓̏̄͘ų̷̡̨̘͍͇̪̜̝̤͍͍̱̾̂̍͒͂̕l̸̥̮̤̠͎͑ ̴̹̻̠̳͉̳̻͑͆̄t̶̩͆͜o̶̧̳̲̦͆̃̈̊͝ỏ̸̗̫̜͇̯̟̥̜͎̙̒́͠ĺ̸̡̡̧̫͍̘̠̱̙͉͇̻͔̫͑̂͒̊̈́ͅ.̵̲͍̲̹̠̮̜͋͐̎̊̀̎̓̆̋̌̈́̕̕͠ Data ejections detected in 2042 sections. Immediate repairs initiated.

There was a short pause, all of them noting the sudden silence of all things associated with Zenith-X02-F1 nearby. Even that large slave-creature was frozen mid-stride, carrying back another piece of the lesser Wyrm.

Morval recovered from his briefly piercing migraine quickly, Itval's hand on his shoulder, the other three all sharing the same concerned look.

I am Zenith. I am - not alive. Not like you. I do not know why I am here, in your world. I do not understand many things.

Would you explain them to me?

The creature's activity began again, the swarming tides eating the lesser Wyrm to fix Zenith.