166 (III)

Prison

Shiv tried to go out of context—but by the time he reacted, he was dead again.

His Vitae burst free from his body, and he was staggered to see the automaton's fist driven through his chest. His corpse was also charred and melting. But there was no damage anywhere else. None of the other Pathbearers present were even stunned. Every hit the Avatar and Ascendant inflicted was unleashed on Shiv and nothing else.

He envied its control. He envied its power. And he hated the fact that he was so outmatched.

Inertial Overdrive 126 > 130

Gravitic Wrestler 195 > 200 (Skill Evolution Imminent)

Pillar of Orichalcum 229 > 231

Shiv's corpse dissolved around the Avatar's fist. But as it drew its arm back, pieces of its body fell away. Cracks spread along its metal shell, and it staggered toward Shiv's Vitae. Apparently, this power was too much for it as well. Channeling Cripple the Strongest seemed to come at a brutal personal cost.

"I see you now," Cripple said. The Avatar's voice was altogether absent. "I see your life-fused spirit. Your ways will not work on me again—"

And then Shiv halted time and went out of context. Everything went still for an instant. Then Shiv speared into the chest of the already brutalized automaton and began sapping what little bit of lifeforce it had left.

Or so he tried. He shot through the air—but the automaton shuddered and vanished with a flash of Divination mana from its eyes. Shiv felt his insides tighten as he cursed the skill. Diviners might not be able to notice his exact existence, but the System still warned them of his proximity—or they had some other way of sensing danger.

Shiv went for one of the Vanguards instead. As soon as he touched one, he drained the man—but had to stop after a half-second as a Vanguard's body shriveled and dropped. Shiv resurfaced. He managed to touch a lancer and drink in a trickle of lifeforce. That was enough to bring him back.

And that proved to be his mistake.

Rather than striking him as a mess of Vitae, the Avatar burst back into existence and slammed a twisting fist against the center of Shiv's forehead.

The world went silent. A ringing noise became the totality of his existence. Fragmented edges of pain lined the insides of his skull, and Shiv felt entirely at peace.

Until his ego snapped back together in a tortuous instant.

Shiv awoke with a cry of pain. He found a cage of Dynamancy being built around him, found Pathbearers standing over him. The Avatar stood over his head, supported by a few other Pathbearers. It threw itself back in surprise as Shiv snarled and ripped someone off their feet. He swung his victim back and forth, using the heavily armored elf to batter and swat at foes he couldn't reach.

He managed to hit two people before the valley walls joined in again and someone snatched the guard out of the air.

A cascade of magics crashed down and flooded over Shiv. Shiv lost control of his body first as a pool of red mana slithered under his flesh. Hostile Biomancy compromised his nervous system. And then new shackles of force were built around his arms and legs, locking him in place. Finally, a lapping tide of Psychomancy coiled around him, pulling tighter and tighter until his consciousness narrowed to a pinprick.

It felt a little bit like getting choked out from the inside, and though Shiv tried to fight it, he was sinking deeper into himself. He reached for a skill that he couldn't remember, but it was futile.

His Chronomancy triggered briefly—and shattered as another wavelength of counter-magic impacted him.

"We asked you to come peacefully," the Avatar wheezed. Its voice came with a crackle. "This was not necessary. We do not intend to harm—"

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"Fuck you!" Shiv managed to snarl through bared teeth. "There are people who need me! Blackedge… My friends! The Tarrasque is still alive! I need to go back… I need to go back!"

Shiv thrashed. Shiv struggled. He raged against the magic pinning him in place. Some part of him knew that he was good and chained, but that part of his mind was broken for now. Broken and regenerating.

A Vanguard lifted his leg to stomp down on Shiv's head. For a moment, Shiv saw the War Priest instead of a Vanguard—remembered the wound inflicted on him in his youth. "You insolent—"

"NO!" Cripple roared. The Avatar's torso burst apart from sheer volume, and the Vanguard was launched across the room with a scream. "No," the Ascendant repeated, its voice falling to a thin whistle. "No one harm him. We have done enough to him. We have…" The Avatar limped over to Shiv and looked down. "We had to do this. We must understand why the System is so determined to destroy you. And we needed to take you off the board so that no one would be tempted to claim your life for the reward. We are doing this to protect you. It is for your benefit."

Psycho-Cartography: Listen to its voice. Neither the Avatar nor Cripple actually believe a single word they're saying. This is bullshit.

Rage exploded inside Shiv. Desperate, impotent rage. He discharged his sheath, pushed as hard as he could with his field. The dense bands of Dynamancy flexed and bent slightly, but they did not break. And Shiv's body wasn't moving right. His arms and legs wouldn't listen. His flesh was a hive of numbness. He tried to think, but there was nothing there. No plans left. Even his memories were scattered.

All he had were his emotions and skills, and they weren't enough.

He wasn't enough.

He was captured. Trapped. Uva and Adam and all the others were on their own.

And Shiv hated that. He hated his weakness, he hated the Ascendants for taking him as a prisoner, he hated the magic keeping him suppressed—

The Avatar let out a mechanical sigh. "For what it is worth, I did not want this. I am dishonored by this. And I will not forgive the injustice we have inflicted on you and your allies. Before everything is over, there will be a reckoning. But not at the cost of our Republic. Right now, I need you to sleep. And when you wake, I must ensure your obedience."

Incandescent translucence flared around the Avatar, and it reached down to touch Shiv's mind.

"No!" he snarled in animalistic panic. A cold, metal digit hammered against his skull, and he felt the contents of his will, his consciousness, come apart. "NO!"

He pushed back against the Psychomancy with his own, but it just tore again, drowning him in pain.

There was nothing left of Shiv after that. Nothing but loathing for everything that kept him caged here, kept him—

Skill Gained: Magical Resistance 1 (Initiate)

The Deathless's eyes snapped open once more. He sucked in a breath. The Avatar's influence briefly bounced off his mind. Cripple gasped. Shiv let out a bestial snarl, twisted, and ripped his own body apart in one final attempt to get free. His flesh snapped and tore as he squeezed an arm past the peeling meat of his torso to throw a final blow against the avatar.

He struck its leg—and inflicted no harm at all.

No harm, but enough struggle to begin a transformation.

Gravitic Wrestler 200 > 201 (Skill Evolution Reached)

Skill Evolution: Gravitic Wrestler (Master) > Maelstrom of Stars Unmoving (Heroic)

The Avatar snapped down and gripped his skull in its massive fist. Shiv felt his fledgling Magical Resistance burst apart—

But he willed it not to. He wanted his Magical Resistance strong—impenetrable!

He wanted more strength than the Tarrasque. More durability. He needed more. More, so that he could keep being the master of his fate, so he could defy gods true and false alike.

The Challenger smiles upon you.

He wishes for you to rage.

The Composer is composing a hymn for you.

She yearns to see your safe return.

So he could guard that which he treasured. And so he could bring ruin to what he despised.

The first among which being his own weakness.

A pulse clarity came over Shiv, and he made a wish.

And as he did, as his nascent skill immediately surged to impossible heights, its evolution mingled with another, and Shiv felt himself descend into himself—fall away from his physical body into the depths of his soul.

Skill Evolution: Magical Resistance 1 (Initiate) > Magical Resistance 500 (Legendary)

Skill Fusion: Magical Resistance (Legendary) - Maelstrom of Stars Unmoving (Heroic)

The last thing Shiv heard before he lost his bodily senses entirely was Cripple calling out in astonishment. "Animancer! Get me an Animancer! He's Delving! He's going Legendary! Move him to Containment Cell Zenith! Now!"

[Initializing Delve…]

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