206 (II)

Academy [IV]

It seemed like a powerful weapon to Shiv, but by this point, he didn't really care that much about destructive power. He was already a sledgehammer. He wanted more options. Frankly, he wanted to develop his technical skills more than anything right now, because that's what he lacked: Multitasking, Practical Metaiology, Memorization, Reading, Writing. All those things mattered, and Shiv was deficient in the basics still.

"No," Adam said, stepping away. "It's powerful, but no. I can feel it trying to root me in place. It uses me as some kind of conduit."

"Yes," Merrielmel chirped, "I've seen this thing fry an entire squadron! A massive storm manifests overhead!"

"And being made still is being made dead," Adam deadpanned. "I don't have the Toughness for this, and with the threats we face, I cannot be static. Do you have something that offers more range and flexibility, or the possibility of rapid repositioning?"

Merrielmel tapped his chin as he considered Adam's question, and then he snapped his fingers. "Come with me!" Merrielmel started sprinting between a few display cases, and as they left, the glass protecting the anvil crashed back together. Shiv narrowed his eyes at the crystalline substance.

As the others followed Merrielmel, Helix leaned in. "Did you feel that?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Shiv replied, "yeah, I did. It was pretty interesting. I didn't expect it to be organic."

"Then did you notice that there is a superorganism living beneath the marble tiles?"

Shiv paused. "There is?"

Helix tutted in disappointment. "We still need to work more on your Awareness. I gave you that armor so that you can use all of your senses, but still you neglect them. It's a Haeguram. A Slumberwyrm. If you touch the so-called glass, it would shed them and leave larvae inside you."

"Shit. Really?"

"Yes. So. Pay attention."

Instead of responding with agitation, Shiv grunted and accepted the criticism. "Yeah, I guess I need to keep my eyes open."

"Not just your eyes. The world is not a nail. You are not a hammer, at least not always. If you want to be good at Biomancy, you have to open your mind, Insul. If you want to be good at anything, you'll have to open your mind. The simple die ugly deaths."

"I think everyone dies ugly deaths," Shiv retorted. "Just that some get a lot more done before they die."

"True, true," Helix amended, sighing.

By the time they caught up to Merrielmel and the others, they found the Enchanter gesturing animatedly at a set of revolving rings. They glowed with the texture of focus crystal on the outside, and an inner rim that was made from mithril. The gap between the rings glistened with dense motes of static darkness. This was a dimensional item, but from within that sheen of Dimensionality came another field that Shiv could feel: a Chronomantic field. He wasn't the only one that sensed it. Kura had her face scrunched as well, and she regarded the two rings as if they were hiding a nest of snakes within.

"This is the Realmrunner's Keyhole," Merrielmel said, licking his dry lips. "I did not make this item, and neither did Concelhaunt, for that matter. We found it, and then restored it."

"Realmrunner," Gone echoed, and suddenly Shiv tasted the stench of fear. It radiated from the goblin, and it was practically palpable. A faint strand twisted and twirled through the air. It ran from Gone, and it extended skyward, but Shiv couldn't tell where it ended. It went through the ceiling, and it kept twisting, undulating, as if it was trying to connect to something he couldn't see.

"You know who that is?" Shiv asked.

When Gone went still, Shiv knew that this Realmrunner was probably a threat. "Don't want to talk about it," Gone muttered, shaking her head.

Psycho-Cartography: Do not push her right now. Listen to her voice. She's not just reluctant. She's traumatized.

Farsight 74 > 75

Adam turned to say something to Gone, but Shiv took a step forward and clapped the Gate Lord on the shoulder. Before Adam could say anything, Shiv shook his head and simply uttered, "No." Adam, to his credit, understood immediately and fell silent. Once more, Irons looked between them, but his gaze lingered on Shiv a while longer. Instead of seeming suspicious this time, he let a faint flash of approval slip through his rigid expression.

"The Realmrunner is an infamous Legendary Pathbearer," Merrielmel muttered in a hushed tone. "A Legendary merchant. A trader. A trader of all things, be it wonders, information, stories, and yes, even beings. Monsters and individuals both." Merrielmel shuddered at that, but his shudder was dramatic.

Comparatively, Gone shivered, and her reaction was a reflex. She scratched at the back of her neck, and just then Shiv noticed a curve poking through the rag she'd grabbed from a crate at some point to wear over her shredded prisoner suit. It was a ridge of scar tissue, and as the fabric of her clothes shifted up and down, he saw more of the scarification appear. It didn't look like a battle scar. Instead, it seemed to be decorative, inflicted upon her by means of a brand, if he had to guess.

The Enchanter clicked his tongue, oblivious to the reaction his words were causing. "Anyhow, the Realmrunner is known for being in multiple places at the same time, or so it is claimed. We suspect that he simply has mastery of Dimensionality on such an advanced level that he can simply coexist in two spaces at once, rather than through means of splitting his soul."

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Coexist?" Adam repeated, incredulous.

"Correct!" Merrielmel cried aloud. The Gate Lord flinched at the sudden excitement exhibited by the elven Enchanter. He gestured for Adam to come closer. "It's just a matter of time—actually, see for yourself! Take hold of the rings," Merrielmel instructed.

The rings lay upon a flat stand, and despite spewing out motes of Dimensionality, they were otherwise dormant. As soon as Adam touched them, however, they both thrummed to life. They rose up into the air, and for the first time, a burst of gravity distorted the space beneath the rings. The display case began to rattle, and soon, as Adam drew the rings back, it glided through the air, weightless.

For a few seconds, Adam was silent, and his eyes darted about. Shiv realized he was reading the notification offered by this new piece of equipment, and as the corner of his lip began to curve, he guessed that Adam might have found something he was interested in.

Equipment Obtained: [The Realmrunner's Keyhole]

Tier: Heroic

Condition: Perfect

Composition: Mithril; Focus Crystal; Dimensionality

Enchantments > Vector Accelerator; Spatial Pulse; Dimensionality Binder; Slipgate; Eldritch Infusion; Size-Adjustable; Binding; Master Self-Repair

Suddenly, Adam gestured upward, and one of the rings snapped away from the other. It hovered above him, and just then, a burst of Dimensionality splashed down. A second later, Adam zoomed upward through the ring on his vector wings before reappearing on the other side. However, the Adam that burst out from the other ring was entirely golden.

A pressure clenched Shiv, and he reflexively halted time. Kura and Gone activated their powers as well, flashing gold, just as a temporal replica of Adam slipped free from the other ring. He rose just above the display case and fired twice through the air, his Veilpiercers tearing open the space before him.

At the same time, the real Adam plunged back down through the ring he'd first passed through and fired two shots in return. Two different sets of Veilpiercers impacted, and bursts of black static opened up in the space above the group. It was like pockets of unstable Dimensionality pockmarking the flesh of existence.

"What just happened?" Helix asked, blinking. That was when Shiv realized: only he, Kura, and Gone had likely perceived the entire process. Adam was hyper-accelerated when he passed through the ring. However, he wasn't hyper-accelerated in speed alone. Instead, his personal chronology caused him to exist a full second ahead in the future. Effectively, he fired two shots ahead of time, and they only appeared when he returned.

Adam grinned up at the ring hovering overhead, and he passed through it once more. This time, when he crashed back down, the other ring remained dormant. It remained that way for a full ten seconds, until suddenly, Adam shot a Veilpiercer into the keyhole. Just then, Shiv felt a sudden temporal pressure squeeze him as he activated his temporal shell again.

This time, when Adam's Chronomantically-constructed self appeared, he tried aiming at his former self before another arrow smashed into the Veilpiercer he was preparing—an arrow that had just been fired a few seconds ago. Adam had effectively disarmed himself across time. It was confusing, even for Shiv.

"Oh, this is… useful," Adam breathed. With a gesture, both of the rings suddenly began shrinking before Shiv's eyes. The Dimensionality made them grow tighter, smaller, until they were the size of bracelets, and they slid along Adam's right arm before they locked themselves in place. They turned counter-clockwise to each other, each snapping over and over as if gears inside a clock. "You got something better than this, Enchanter? Because so far, I think we have a winner."

"Well, as you are walking the Path of an Archer, I think you made a wonderful choice as well," Merrielmel said. "Our other pieces… It's hard to hide some of these creations. A great many are restorations, and Vanguards fall in combat more often than—ah, I ramble. This is good. This is my recommendation!"

Concelhaunt frowned slightly. "Look, if you're going to take that thing… you should know about the risks."

Adam raised an eyebrow. He waved a hand for the goblin to elaborate.

Concelhaunt grimaced. "The risks that Merrielmel decided not to mention."

"Oh, Concelhaunt, what are you trying to do?" Merrielmel asked, his tone aghast.

"I'm trying to make sure that we don't get murdered by the Deathless here, in case his friend bites it."

"'Bites it'?" Shiv asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl, and two sets of fear chains hardened between him and the crafters.

"I mean that the Realmrunner doesn't like it when you steal his shit," Concelhaunt grunted. "He's been known to kill Pathbearers if they steal from him. And even though this thing was broken when we found it, if he ever comes across you..."

"If." Merrielmel stressed. "We don't know if he's still out there or even alive at all."

"But if he comes across you, good odds that this guy might just try to put you in a grave."

"He will, and it doesn't matter," Gone suddenly said. All eyes turned to the goblin. She was staring down at the ground, but she was scratching that scar on the back of her neck. Harder, faster, with blood starting to drip as her claws sank through the tissue. "He will hurt you because you're alive, because you're there, because he can hurt you. He doesn't care about anything but power, wealth, getting more. Take everything from him, take nothing. No difference. It doesn't matter. It doesn't."

Adam looked at Shiv and winced. He tilted his head at Gone and made a hugging gesture. Shiv considered the Gate Lord's request. They didn't know Gone very well, but still, she had been essential in their escape, and so far, he felt like she was among the more moral of the prisoners, especially compared to Kura.

"Maybe just a pat," Shiv whispered quietly. Adam nodded, and he walked over. He made sure to approach Gone from the front, and he awkwardly brushed her shoulder with his index finger. The goblin blinked, and she let out a quiet breath. She shuffled away thereafter, and Shiv didn't know if Adam's action imparted any comfort or simply made things weirder.

"Well, whatever the risk, I'm keeping this," Adam said, gesturing at the rings on his arm. "It's… very useful. I think I can attach one to you, Shiv. It will let me cross over and provide you with cover—or anyone else. Or I can use it for scouting."

Shiv grinned at Adam's growing excitement. "Glad to see you found something fun here. Not worried about the Realmrunner?"

Adam snorted. "No, I'm definitely not terrified that there might be another hyper-powerful Legendary-Tier Pathbearer who's coming to kill me. Truly, this is another good turn for my life."

"It's a bit like getting fucked in the ass by a large object, yeah?" Mortar said. The sudden vulgarness that came from the orc made both Shiv and Adam do a double-take. "You know, it makes sense if you think about it. When somebody shoves a cactus up your ass, it's already agonizing and painful. More importantly, it tears your hole open. Now, if they try to fuck you with a knife afterward, it still hurts, but it's likely too wide for the knife to really hurt you. You understand?"

Shiv didn't have the words for a while.

Adam did. "What?"

Shiv shivered. He really didn't like imagining any of that, especially not happening to himself. "You could have come up with any other analogy."

"He really could have," Whisper muttered under his breath.

Mortar grunted. "Yeah, but it makes less of an impact, huh? Kind of like a cactus."

"Alright!" Adam said loudly, turning away. "We got our reward. I think we should move on now before Mortar here says anything else that will make me side-eye the next plant I see."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.