novelraw Chapter 243
Chapter 243
Erin stood from her chair, the movement so abrupt the terminal flickered. "We waste time sitting. Follow."
Everyone got up and trailed after her as she walked to the entrance of the living halls where a reinforced door with the familiar label of "Star Forge" was etched on the door.
The door slid open with a hiss. The familiar room was split by glass right down the middle. Behind the glass were two cylinders protruding from the left and right walls that almost touched the hot white miniature star in the middle. Littered on the floors were the same metal alloy cubes of various sizes.
Kyle whistled. "Can't get used to that."
Erin walked right in front of the glass, putting her hand on the glass. For a couple of seconds, she just stared at it, then looked back at the group.
"I will craft the following," Erin said. "Two portable laser turrets that can be connected to the Tomb's power grid. Six claymores designed for soft targets such as the Tekanimantus forces. Twenty anti-guardian mines specifically calibrated for the Guardian units within this facility. Four electromagnetic forcefield generators that, when deployed, will provide static cover against projectiles, capable of blocking even Guardian laser fire for twenty-four hours. Six standard issue arm guards and shin guards for everyone present, which will reduce incoming physical damage by twenty-five percent. Fifty high-output blank-slot magazines that can be etched with any spell you know. These will be particularly useful for Clyde and Ollie due to their weapons' high output per shot."
This time, Clyde was the one who whistled.
"That's a lot of boom boom," Kyle said.
Ollie crossed his arms. "Where the hell was all of this when we had to rescue Clyde?"
"That mission was a rescue operation, not a defensive stand. We were extracting one person and escaping. When we reach the Rift Aperture System, we must establish a fortified position and hold the line against both Guardian forces and the Tekanimantus. The two scenarios require different resource allocation. Do you understand the difference, or must I draw diagrams?" Erin said.
"I understand the difference," Ollie said. "Just would've been nice to have laser turrets earlier."
"You survived without them. That makes your complaint irrelevant."
"Can't argue with that logic," Lily grumbled.
Erin held up her hand right towards the star behind the glass. Two circles of light with complex patterns formed on the top and bottom and the cylinders slowly retracted until the star reached the size of touching the tip of the circles of light.
"Before I begin fabrication, I require six vials of the material the short child had shown me earlier."
"Why?" Gale asked.
"I shall modify the dust so the harmful effects are nulled. The current formulation is one of barbaric intent."
Ollie rolled her eyes at what she just said. "How do you know how to modify dust?"
"I have been using this product since before your planet coalesced from stellar debris. The chemical composition is rudimentary. Now provide me six vials, one for each of you," Erin said in the most monotonous voice she's ever used.
Rachel raised her hand. "Wait. What modifications are you making exactly?"
"I will remove the negative physiological effects while reducing the drug's efficacy by thirty-three percent. Make haste!" Erin extended her hand even more.
Kyle whistled low. "Didn't know Erin cared about us that much."
"Enough chatter," Erin said. "The dust is of utmost importance in emergencies. You have all proven your valour in the rescue operation. With this enhancement, you need not worry about the after effects. You will fight with even more valour."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to us," Clyde said.
Lily nodded, putting a hand on her chin, then looking to Ollie. "If that's the case, each of us can actually use our strongest abilities without going completely out of commission afterward."
Ollie then turned to Gale. "You got a stash, right? Give her six."
Gale nodded and held out both hands. Six vials materialized, three on each palm. Ollie had called this the 'Blue Pill' back in their fight against Stormbreaker and Hellbringer, and the liquid did look blue.
Walking over to Erin, he held them out to her hand, but the vials levitated before they could reach her hand. "This will take approximately 6 minutes. Behold, the Weber Conglomerate's specialty, Pharmaceuticals."
"That sounds evil," Kyle said.
"Evil bad corporation of the cosmos. Great," Clyde said.
"Silence!" Erin yelled. "The Weber Conglomerate has contributed the most to the front line of the wars against the corruption!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it, Holy Grand Researcher," Ollie said.
"Hmph. The top title is Grand Researcher," Erin said. "Do not jest me with your puny knowledge of the Weber's hierarchy. There is no 'Holy' prefix ever recorded."
Everyone rolled their eyes simultaneously except Gale.
"Grand Researcher, can you please start now?" Gale asked.
"Gladly," Erin said, and that she did.
The circles of light above and below the star began to spin in opposite directions, slowly at first, then faster, but just enough to still see the patterns.
The six floating vials shattered at the same time, and the liquid all joined into one blob. Floating through the glass, the blob entered the star, creating a spike of brightness and increasing the temperature of the room by several degrees.
Within seconds, etchings and intricate patterns bloomed on all sides of the wall of the Star Forge, pulsing at the same speed as the RPM of the circles of light.
By the third minute, something changed inside the star itself. Purple light rayed out from the star, followed by light blue, then crimson red.
At exactly the sixth minute, the colours faded and the star returned to its original white-hot state. That's when six vials floated out of the star and through the glass.
[Lesser Compressed Origin Dust Vial - White Version]
[Description: Without the harmful side effects of having your insides become a messy goop, this version of compressed dust vial is accessible to individuals aged as low as 6SE. Side effects may include explosive vomiting. Please do not use more than 3 times a day.]
[Consumable]
[Effects: Efficiency base + 35 x 77%, Max Load base + 30 x 100%, restores essence to full.]
[Duration: 600]
Explosive vomiting? But it's better than not having it. And looking at the faces all around, they were happy to receive the vial. Best to not say anything and just watch when it happens.
With a snap of Erin's finger, the molten state of the glass instantly disappeared, revealing the true form of the vials; a glass that contained stars that twinkled, a fluid that's of a pale gray, and each vial contained an etching that said "Weber".
Ollie stared at them, squinting at the etching. "Was the branding really necessary?"
"It is of utmost importance," Erin said. "All products of the Weber Conglomerate must bear the mark of their creator. This is quality assurance at its finest."
"Right. Quality assurance." Ollie shook his head.
A vial floated directly to each person. Gale caught his, rubbing his finger on the Weber etching. Not sure why he did that, but the etching felt nice, and the glass was heavier.
"It's hefty, much better than those cheap vials Glorious Glory's Bazaar uses," Kyle said.
"Hey, it's cost cutting. What matters is the inside," Ollie said.
"That's what she said," Clyde said.
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"Idiot," Lily muttered.
"I am not well tuned to the news of the current. This Glorious Glory's Bazaar, how big is their reach in the cosmos?" Erin asked.
"Nothing. Ignore the idiots," Ollie said.
"I shall now fabricate the armaments," Erin said. "Observe the superiority of Weber craftsmanship."
The star pulsed, and metal cubes scattered across the floor behind the glass lifted into the air. They floated toward the star and began to melt, the solid metal turning liquid in seconds. The liquefied metal spiralled around the star. Wires, barrels, chipboards, and an orb with billions of etchings formed from the liquid metal.
The first items took form, taking the shape of a tank except with three legs instead and two barrels pointing in the same direction. On the top of it, a small tesla coil.
"Portable laser turret," Erin said. "Autonomous targeting system with friend-or-foe identification. Once placed, it can connect wirelessly to the Tomb's power systems."
"That's cute," Rachel said.
"Silence! These are armaments that are designed for maximum impact against the abominations. It is not what you call cute," Erin said.
"But it is cute. Look, it has three legs and a tesla coil hat," Lily said.
"Pfft, women. They'd probably name it something like pickles or orange or yumyum," Kyle said.
"Shut up, Kyle," Lily rolled her eyes.
"Enough. I will continue," Erin said.
Claymores came next. Multiple metal alloy cubes floated to the star. Perfect flat circles formed from the liquid metal. Once they floated out of the Star Forge through the glass, they dropped onto the floor softly.
"Six claymores designed for soft tissue targets. Directional fragmentation charges. The Tekanimantus horde are mostly composed of soft targets."
Once again, multiple cubes floated to the star, but this time, about 20 needles came out, disproportionate to the amount of what went in.
"Twenty anti-guardian mines. Place them, and they will see the nearest Guardian signature, penetrating their armour and implanting a self-destruct code."
"Well, that's grim," Rachel said.
"Isn't there a way to ask the Guardians for help on this defense or at least have them cooperate?" Gale asked.
"That is not possible. It seems the Guardians have been communicating behind my back. They plan to capture me and put me back into a pod to power up the tomb once they have reached absolute advantage against the Tekanimantus," Erin said.
"Ok..."
The rest of the items were forged one by one with Erin's extreme focus. No more comments were made during that time.
Gale saw her unwavering eyes. Even back when they were cornered by the Proctor, her eyes never once relented. In a way, she was inspiring if the arrogance was subtracted.
The last items were armour pieces. Six sets of arm guards and shin guards. They looked lighter than they should be for the amount of cubes that were used for them.
They looked awfully familiar... Analyze.
[Standard Arm & Shin Guards]
[Description: Standard issue reinforced combat guards that can be used as a weapon.]
[Effects:
Passive: Reduces all incoming damage by 25%.
Toggle on with continuous essence drain to double passive. [[DISABLED]]
Cost: 10 essence per hit.
MAKER: Weber Labs
]
The last items were the armour pieces, six sets of arm guards and shin guards that floated out sized for each person. They looked lighter than they should be, the metal impossibly thin but radiating durability.
"Standard issue protective equipment. Twenty-five percent damage reduction against physical impacts. Better than what you currently possess, which is nothing of value." Erin stepped back from the glass of the Star Forge, watching everyone.
The stack of blank magazines floated towards Ollie. "I'll work on these. Half for Clyde, half for me. What spell you want?"
"Anything that goes big boom boom big. Like I mean big." Clyde said.
Ollie looked unamused by what he just heard. "The fuck does that mean?"
"I dunno. Just anything that goes explosion!!! Or something."
"You know what, do it yourself," Ollie said, floating half of the stack towards him.
Clyde and Kyle took them from the air as the stack arrived in front of them. "Bro, help me with the etchings."
"You got it," Kyle said. "We done now?"
"We are done, you may sleep and ready yourself for the final battle," Erin said.
"Sounds epic. Bros, let's go," Kyle said, moving over to the exit of the Star Forge.
"How do you always have so much to say?" Lily followed.
"Kyle, come here," Rachel said, hurrying her steps towards him. "Just wait a bit. Just a little bit."
"Fuck no, I didn't do shit!" Kyle started running.
"Wait for me!" Clyde said, following him after.
"What spicy books, HUH PUNK?!" Rachel shouted, exiting the Star Forge as well.
"Spicy's pretty good though," Lily said.
"Lily, no!" Rachel said.
Ollie sighed, shaking his head, following them out.
Gale watched their forms disappear through the hissing door, then looked to Erin. "Thanks a lot. For everything you've done."
"Gratitude is not needed on this front. This generosity only extends to you and everyone else due to the necessity of survival," Erin said.
"If someone says thanks to you, you should just take it. Wouldn't that be easier?" Gale asked.
Erin paused for a moment. "Your gratitude is accepted. Now rest your body to prepare for the final battle."
"Sure... but there's an issue," Gale said. "I got 295 Origin grains and also a skill point I can use. What should I use it on?"
[Due to current build set to Master Lucidity, host is recommended to put all points into Mind until it reaches 100.]
Gale rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask you, Guide. Stupid."
"What did your Guide say?"
"It told me to put everything on Mind," Gale said.
"That would be the correct allocation until you've reached 100 points in Mind, however, the situation calls for adaptation," Erin said. "I recommend putting 10 points to Body and the rest to Mind."
"Why?" Gale asked.
"Must you continuously question my recommendations?" Erin said.
"I mean... yeah? I wanna know. Think about it. I'm already kind of dumb. Don't you want to teach me?" Gale asked, almost stopping himself from grinning.
"A fair assessment. Consider yourself fortunate for being granted the chance to learn from the Grand Researcher," Erin said, and Gale clapped. "Master Lucidity is what you could call a glass cannon. He relied on overwhelming power in order to quickly kill his opponents before they were even able to blink. However, that was also his downfall. He was killed by an ambush by a Rogue Dainv."
"A rogue Dainv? Aren't those just Cesnv?" Gale asked.
"No. A Rogue Dainv is a Dainv that has lost some of their sanity due to peering too deeply into the in-between, resulting in a symbiotic coexistence with whatever they brought back."
Gale stared at her, not knowing what to say. "Okay, you lost me. Anyways, continue?"
Erin glared at him, seeming to look down on him as if he didn't get what she was talking about. It's true, though. How was that even a lesson? She was just explaining what happened to Master Lucidity.
"In other words, the build you will use is based on Master Lucidity. However, his is based on having an army of Dainv. You do not have that luxury. You must be able to hold your own ground without an army. Therefore, you will be putting points into Body regardless, sooner or later."
Gale nodded. Now that sounded like an explanation. Without another thought, he put 10 points into Body and the rest were put into Mind.
[Body: 12 » 22, Mind: 35 » 54]
[Essence: 1960 » 2340]
[Body Rigidity & Flexibility increased.]
"And the skill point?" Gale asked.
"You shall put it on Trace Breadth," Erin said.
"I don't have that skill. I have Breath of the Void."
"Right. You did say that. Put it on that. It could be a different version of the skill."
[Skill point apply to: Breath of the Void. Confirm? Y/n]
Gale pressed Y immediately, and when he did, for 3 full seconds, the world grew darker. Erin stepped back, looking around the darkest corners of the room that contrasted against the Star behind them.
In their shadows, millions of eyes, mouths, and undefined shapes could be seen. A headache permeated as a straight line down the middle of Gale's head. Closing his eyes, thousands of needles punctured into his skull as if wanting to split it open, but it did not.
The shadows of the room seemed to nip at his skin softly. Finally, air rushed out of his lungs. As he opened his eyes, he saw colours that were usually not there unless he integrated with Breath of the Void that slowly faded until he no longer noticed the distinction between the possible and impossible. His eyes just accepted the existence as it let those very colours meld into the real.
[Breath of the Void skill evolved Lv. 3 » Presence Between Lv. 4]
[Presence Between] [Description: The void exudes its presence, signalling the nightmare that is to come.]
[Sub-skill: Breath of the Void][Description: A window of the void exuding its breath into the surroundings.]
[Hidden functions available for host to discover]
[Breath of the Void integration threshold limit increased: 100% » 150%]
Gale gasped as the skill changed. Looking at Erin, her blue hair looked even more vivid than before. The originally flat floor of the room now looked jagged, as if the imperfections were magnified. Clutching at his head, he needed to somehow control this new skill, otherwise, it might take control of him.
"You must learn to use it," Erin said. Her hand reached his head and softly patted him. Coldness exuded from her hand, entering into his very essence pathways.
[Cold Calm Applied]
The normal colours slowly returned as Gale's gasping slowed down to a normal breath. Jagged shapes all around the Star Forge faded back into their flat shapes.
He didn't realize it before, but now he's calmed, his forehead dripped with sweat. Wiping it off, he looked to Erin. "Thanks."
Erin nodded. "Now rest, the battle tomorrow awaits."
"Got it," Gale smiled, and then turned around. Exiting the Star Forge, he saw no one was in the lobby. Tendrils showed him their locations, all 5 sitting on their beds, having a conversation where Kyle animatedly was moving his hands around.
He entered the sleeping quarters, and everyone turned towards him.
"Look who finally showed up," Lily said with a smile.
"We're just having a chat before we sleep," Rachel said from the top bunk of her chosen bed.
Gale sat down under the same bunk Rachel was at, her legs hanging just beside his head. "About what?"
"A bet about the big bad villain monologuing on his grand entrance. Probably some bullshit about ruling the galaxy together or some shit," Kyle said from his bottom bunk. "You know. Just the usual."
Clyde snorted from the bunk above Kyle. "That's a sucker's bet. There's always a speech. I'll bet on the length instead. Five bucks says it's over three minutes."
"You two are unbelievable." Rachel shook her head. "I bet two and a half minutes. This one's mine."
Kyle looked to Lily. "Your turn, scout lady."
Lily thought about it for a second, then said, "One minute thirty seconds. Can't be that long during an epic battle."
"You guys are idiots. That guy's smarter than he looks. I bet less than 1 minute. He's not going to waste time just telling us about his existential purpose," Ollie smirked.
"You sure about that, bossman? Because he did exactly just that when he made that grand entrance," Kyle said.
"Still sticking to 1 minute so fuck you," Ollie said.
"Gale, what's your bet?" Clyde asked.
A villain monologue sounded so cliché, and this wasn't just some book. This was real life. But... a bet sounded fun, and that Proctor guy did have the vibes that made it feel like he'd do a monologue. "I don't have money to bet, though."
"Alright, what you got at home? Anything?" Kyle asked.
"Take it off your paycheque from me, Gale," Ollie said. "This joke is in the bag for me anyway."
"Don't count on that yet, bossman. This one is in MY bag," Clyde said.
"How about a loaf of bread or a peanut butter jar?" Gale asked. "I bet he won't monologue for longer than 2 minutes."
"Alright. Feral boy's got the peanut butter on the table," Kyle said.
"Don't call him feral!" Rachel yelled.
"But I am feral..." Gale said.
"No you're not!"
"Feral is good though..."
Rachel grumbled.
"Alright, suckers. This is easy win. I'm going for 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Between Rachel and Clyde."
"Fuck you, Kyle," Clyde and Rachel said at the same time.