118 (II) Vitality
Shiv nodded. Immediately, strands of red and white extended through the air, but he learned from his mistake with Adam. He didn't spear his Vitae current into her. And a good thing at that, as that might have killed her for good. And Shiv didn't know if he could bring her back to life again if that happened. He only had one Rose Van Erren locked in his soul. As he pressed his current against her body, he immediately started losing vitality. Shiv bit back a groan, but he connected to her vitality as well, and he felt at her damage, at the corrosion.
More importantly, however, his vitality merged with hers, and then seeped into her. He tried to pull at her burns, to manipulate them somehow, but it was like he was striking a film of oil with a water hose. He couldn't interact with it this way. His Vitae felt solid to him, but when it greeted a source of vitality, it reacted more like pooling water, entering like two streams of water merging together than anything else.
"That is normal," Valor said. "Like types of mana co-mingle when they're in a passive state, without someone's intent, they do not truly crash, but you have no experience with cooperative casting." Valor paused. "Focus, Shiv. Treat her body, her vitality, as if it were a body of water. You can displace it with your Vitae. There is only so much vitality one can sustain at a time, so cycle it through her."
"Cycle it?" Shiv asked.
"Yes." Valor looked at him. "Move what is inside of you against her and see if you can pull what is inside her into you when it is displaced. Do it quickly. I suspect you will not have the control, so use quantity to your advantage."
And Shiv did just that. Vitae flooded out from him, and Vitae returned as he drained Rose. A jet stream of white and red rushed out from Shiv, but then it circled back, crashing into him again, and along its length there were festering motes of green, acidic burns inflicted by the corrosion of Necromancy.
As soon as the corroded currents returned to Shiv, he let out a gasp as some of the wounds reappeared on his body. At the same time, Rose's flesh cleared. It was like her being remembered that it was uninjured after all. Her torso restored itself first, patches of smooth skin stretching out. The Weaveress Biomancer wasn't casting anymore. She was simply staring at Shiv, at an absolute loss as to what was happening.
Vitaemancy 51 > 52
Shiv, meanwhile, did his best not to fall over. He felt cold, cold and weak and hurt. More and more of his original injuries returned to him, and Valor raised a hand. "That's enough. I do not think..."
"No," Shiv said, "I can take the wounds. She probably can't. Besides," Shiv gritted his teeth as he felt his organs start failing, "I can just transfer them to someone I don't like in a moment, head out the Abyssal Gate and do a little… hunting…”
Valor regarded him and huffed with restrained pride. “Stand proud, then, Hero. I witness your will.”
Shiv felt a flood of reluctance from Uva as well, but Adam, Adam almost looked overcome with emotion. He stared at Shiv as his mother grew hale and Shiv grew disfigured in her stead. Shiv felt his skin unlatch from his flesh and then melt together into clumps. His organs withered, and he nearly collapsed then, but he forced himself to stand. As he drew the last of his stream of Vitae back into himself, he staggered back, and the room spun. Uva and Adam caught him now. They braced him as Shiv let out a wheeze.
Uva stared at him for a moment, and he saw her colorful eyes widened in horror and she looked away. "That bad, huh?" Shiv chuckled.
"Do you remember when you asked me if I would still like you if you were a potato?" Uva said, trying to hide her discomfort.
"Yeah," Shiv said.
"Well, right now, a potato would be preferable."
"Wow, ouch." Shiv laughed. "Thanks for the honesty."
"Alright," Shiv ground out. "Adam, open the Abyssal Gateway. I'm gonna need to..."
And then the room started spinning around him too much for him to keep up. He lost a step and fell. The ground rushed up to smash him—only for Uva’s shield to catch him first. "Oag–ohakkky…," Shiv slurred. “I’m fannne.” He really wasn't well. His insides felt melted. And his heart felt like it ruptured more with every passing beat.
"I got him," Adam said.
Shiv felt two arms wrap around him, and he barely bit back a cry of pain. Suddenly, he was more sympathetic to Rose than ever. It was funny how fast one could forget intense agony when it wasn't constantly biting into their body every passing second. Adam carried him out of the chamber.
Uva settled into his mind and tried to help him ward off some of the pain. But soon she shifted to Adam instead, her own mind reeling at the sheer amount of suffering he was constantly experiencing. She couldn't focus, not with that much pain.
But pain was an old friend of Shiv's by now. And Rose couldn't survive this, not like he could. The whole affair had been worth it; basic arithmetic. Now he just needed to move his minus to someone else's plus. "Something like that," Shiv muttered to himself. "Hope we'll find a bloodsucker or something soon…”
The Challenger looks upon you with satisfaction.
He briefly lost track of time then. It was an eternity inside his own mind, writhing, trying not to sob or scream. But when his awareness next returned to him, he caught a flash of a swirling blackness. It was like he was entering a monster's maw. But then he noticed he was passing through the gateway—the Abyssal Gateway. Oh, good. I’ll be able to—
Shiv’s heart burst apart then, and he died again.
Vitaemancy 52 > 55
Vitality Drain 52 > 54
As soon as he died, his Vitae field slipped free from his body and smashed into Adam. The Gate Lord let out a grunt of surprise as he felt the dense swirl of red and white that composed Shiv slam against him.
Adam's eyes widened. His breath hitched. "Shiv, if you need to drain—”
"No," Shiv responded. He realized he was still connected to Adam through one of Uva's strands, but he wasn't losing vitality, not while he was still inside his field. And more importantly, he could move the field. He could keep it around himself. It didn't extend long, but it generally encompassed the space of his body, maybe the distance of him reaching out an arm or a leg. And he could move it, move it as he kept the bulk of his Vitae condensed together.
That was how the field remained concentrated as well. It didn't mold itself to his Vitae; it was simply at its epicenter, where he was meant to resurrect when he drained enough. And right now, he definitely did not have enough Vitae to resurrect, but at least he wasn't fading every passing second.
Definitely an evolution. Just a really godsdamned weird one…
A massive crater passed beneath him, and Shiv realized it was the crater he had left behind near the gate a few days ago. As he looked around, he saw a world aglow with dancing torches, bonfires everywhere, spreading beyond the ruins, encircling the Abyssal Gateway, and running deep in the Umbral Wilderness.
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"Adam," Shiv said.
"Yes," he replied. "What do you need?"
"River," Shiv said simply. “Go to the river.”
And Adam immediately sailed off in that direction. Uva was mantled to the young lord's mind now, continuing to do what she could for Shiv's pain and focus without being fully immersed in his mind. While they traveled, however, Shiv directed a section of his Vitae out as a cleaving jet of color. It burst through their air as he guided it using his gravitic field while it accelerated on the basis of his Inertial Overdrive.
He managed to spear sections of his Vitae into the ground, barely missing small embers; he noticed small animals scuttling through the undergrowth. But even as he missed, he could still control his Vitae, and it was a part of his body more than ever before. He flung it out using his gravitic field again, and this time he impacted his prey and began to sap from it.
A strange, single-eared creature let out a cry as its vitality was torn out of its body, and it vanished into a flood of red and white. They shot over the ravine then, and Shiv was launching out stream after stream, plunging it into the water. They split the currents of the river apart, and he struck the bed of the river, causing sediment to erupt and shockwaves to open up pockets in the flow.
He consumed crustaceans, fish, weeds, and more, and he reached out further. He drank in the surrounding trees, the animals that lived inside of them. Shiv consumed insects, he consumed fungi, he consumed everything that had a bright shimmer of vitality around them.
As he consumed them, his Vitae came back together, weaving himself into shape, weaving himself back to life. And with a final pulse of red, then white, Shiv emerged from his Vitae field, alive once more, alive and immediately dying as his organs started to fail again.
“Shit," Shiv rasped.
"Shiv!" Adam cried out as Shiv slumped over against him again. “I—” The Gate Lord gagged as he tried not to look at his malformed body.
"Hey, Adam," Shiv slurred. "I think, I think I'm going to need to find something with quite a bit of life force, something I can pour a lot of myself into and then circle some of myself back out."
"Alright, let me see…" Adam's eyes flashed. It was like a dance between the bluest sky and brightest dawn. The Gate Lord’s face contorted in an expression of absolute focus, and Uva searched the lands as well, but in mere seconds, Adam proved himself to be the better hunter.
"Basilisk," Adam breathed.
"Basilisk," she replied. “You found a basilisk? Good option, but how large? We want one that's mature—”
"Oh, it’s large. And not far either," Adam said, and he immediately blasted off. He shot over a patch of nothing that spread through the surrounding Umbral wilderness. A patch of nothing made so as Shiv drank trees and life out of existence. Suddenly, he came to a stop, and Shiv found Adam hovering just over what seemed to be a large boulder.
"Where is the Basilisk?" Shiv muffled.
“Below,” Adam said. He formed two arms to fire a Veilpiercer that blasted the boulder apart. He accelerated down, and they descended into a deep cave that kept going and going. The cave wasn’t so different from the one Shiv fell into after he got obliterated by Marikos. But instead of a mess of merely large snakes, however, there was a colossal, hundred-meter-long serpent slumbering here, coiled around itself like a small mountain. Its diamond-bright scales glittered, and it slowly lifted its head to stare at the intruders, its head rearing back as a look of animal surprise lit its narrow, slit-like irises.
It was like it couldn't believe its den was being invaded.
And that's how its expression stayed as Shiv triggered his Chronomancy. The world around him paused. Adam froze, but Shiv didn't. He cast his Vitae into the basilisk, caring nothing for gentleness as he impaled it through the midsection. Then, he began to flood it with his vitality while siphoning its vitality back into him. Weakness and strength cycled through Shiv as he fought hard to keep from dying halfway. He repeated what he did with Rose earlier.
As the currents of his Vitae flowed, it rushed out from him, carrying soul wounds that were transferred across the stream and siphoning unblemished waters of vitality that replaced his existing wounds.
Even with time frozen, Shiv watched as a patch of horrific burns spread across the basilisk's body. Its scales ruptured apart, and lumps of misshapen flesh swelled around it in inflamed chunks. Its vitality still burned bright, but Shiv could see its flesh withering.
He let time resume then, and his own body felt instantly relieved. There were still some minor burns that lined him. His vitality cycling wasn't entirely clean, but compared to just a few seconds ago, he felt like a new man. The basilisk, meanwhile, reared back as it let out a piercing scream, where an instant ago it had merely been offended about the ones breaching its home. Now its organs were failing, and it was dying.
Dying in Shiv’s stead.
Maybe I can exploit this—Shiv’s thoughts burst as the large beast swung its head at Shiv and Adam. The Gate Lord dodged to one side, while Shiv shifted another. The basilisk went after Shiv—and missed. But as it swung its head past him, it opened its mouth as a flood of fluid splashed over them, a liquid that was as corrosive as it was paralytic.
As Shiv inhaled, he felt his nervous spasm out of control while his Plaguefueled triggered. The acid, meanwhile, failed to do more than inflict some surface damage to his hardened being. Despite his body going out of control, usurped from his control by a rush of hyper-powerful venoms, his Vitae could still move. He launched a stream right at the basilisk, driving it into its open mouth. The stream impacted with its inertial sheath thundering. The basilisk’s skull parted like a broken lid exploding off a steaming pot. Its brain matter splattered, and it died without truly knowing why.
And as soon as it died, Shiv felt its vitality dissipate, felt the white of its soul shatter, and that section of his Vitae detonated as well.
A large blast swept through the room. Adam let out a cry as he was flung upward and sent sailing through the roof of the cave. Shiv, meanwhile, was spiked deeper into the soil, blasting deeper for a dozen meters before he finally came to a stop.
After a good few minutes of twitching, his Plaguefueled finally consumed the venom, and a surge of euphoria like never before consumed him. It felt wonderful. The basilisk’s venom was the sweetest nectar he had ever tasted, and in that moment, he veered so close to addiction that the first thing he did after digging himself out of the ground was to launch himself at the basilisk to see the state of its body. As he drew closer, he felt his body grow and expand, muscles and bones swelling larger than ever before, his flesh becoming harder than ever in his life.
He felt at its corpse using his Biomancy, and let out a relieved sigh that its poison glands were still there. Yes! Oh, I’m going to get so much use out of this.
Plaguefueled 62 > 63
Just then, six gleaming pyramids lit the dust and smoke around him. "Shiv!" Adam cried out. "Shiv, are you—”
And he found Shiv standing over the basilisk, twitching, shaking, giggling. And Shiv felt the last articles of his clothing tear apart as he grew to nearly three times his original size, the Plaguefueled skill reaching its limit. Adam stared at Shiv. Shiv stared back. The Deathless's eyes twitched. His muscles were still spasming slightly, but no longer from the paralytic venom. No, it was from an overflowing rush of strength as it continued to grow.
Adam hovered three meters above the ground, and Shiv towered over him. Shiv realized he was practically the size of 811 now, and he had to apply all his focus, all his Psychomancy, to stop himself from fully collapsing into a drunken state.
It wasn’t enough.
"Oh , Composer…" Uva let out a breath. “He got even bigger.”
Shiv wondered why she sounded so distracted as he awkwardly staggered toward Adam. Adam glided back. "Shiv, you—”
Shiv realized he could practically wrap an entire hand around half of Adam’s torso. Shiv couldn't help it. He let out a euphoric laugh. "Basilisk! It was a great idea, Adam. Come here!" He reached out and drew the Gate Lord into a hug, his impulses breaching the effects of his Psychomancy.
Adam squirmed slightly, but then he stopped struggling and just sighed as he patted Shiv on the back.
"My Basilisk…" Shiv let out a low chuckle. "Basilisk’s venom…” Shiv hiccuped. Uva reached into his mind and slowly pushed back his drunkenness. But as she did, a notification appeared before his eyes once more.
The Challenger has a great offer for you…
Shit, Shiv thought as a rush of mental exhaustion returned to him. I still have that to deal with.
“Adam,” Shiv said, still hugging him for some reason.
“Yes?” the Gate Lord said, sounding hesitant. “Are you well?”
“I… I think so. Thanks for… You know... Letting me drain you earlier.”
Adam let out a breath. “It was nothing. You… My mother…”
“Yeah,” Shiv said. “We got some shit to talk about during the debrief. About Sullain. And… About getting an army. Because we’re going to need an army for this.”
The Gate Lord shifted. “You’re going to talk to him?”
Shiv grimaced. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I want to see what we can get. But let’s deal with the other stuff first, alright?”
“Alright,” Adam said. And then he stiffly patted Shiv on the head. “Shiv. You can let me go now.”