Path of the Deathless

32 (I) Ambush

-32 (I)

Ambush

“Shiv?” Uva said, looking upon him with a faint glint of concern in her eyes. “What just happened? Why can’t I sense you?” Her Psychomancy field pressed against Shiv’s mask, but like a dam, the waves of her mana found no point of entry.

It was true the other way around as well. Shiv’s own mind mana was contained—bottled in place against an equally impenetrable barrier. He pressed against it with all his strength, but it didn’t yield. He could feel it shake slightly as Uva tried harder, but ultimately, it endured. “I think this might be the Heroic Mind-Shield enchantment. You might need to have a Heroic Skill Evolution to get through this. Or maybe fully be in the threshold.”

“Threshold is my guess,” Uva said, retracting her mana. She pressed her lips together and considered Shiv with unease. “It is a good item, but I have seen others like it. Helmets and accessories meant to shield someone’s mind against a Psychomancer. They usually only offer resistance, though. Or detection. This is a layer of true separation.”

“You want to try it on?” Shiv asked.

She considered it for a moment. “When we get back to Weave. There might be someone I know who would be interested in examining such a mask. If you’re willing to show them. It is your Quest reward, after all.”

“Sure,” Shiv said. “The more I learn about this thing, the better. Speaking of which, let’s see if I can figure out this thing’s Perfect Semblance enchantment. It sounds like it might let them pretend to be someone, but…” Shiv trailed off as the mask vibrated. He stared at Uva for a moment, and a notification appeared before his eyes.

Kill her and take her face to claim her semblance and steal a skill.

“Absolutely felling not!” Shiv cursed. The idea of murdering Uva and her face made his stomach churn slightly. “Well, I guess that’s how that works… Broken Moon, that’s kind of felling dark.”

“What?” Adam said, squinting at Shiv’s mask. “You found out how it works?”

Shiv tested it on Adam. The same type of notification appeared. “Yeah,” Shiv said. “If you stare at someone’s face long enough, you get a notification telling you to kill them and take their face to claim their semblance. It also says something about stealing a skill.”

“Well, I suppose I should have expected such charm from the identity-snatchers of Aviary,” Uva said, her voice flat and scornful. “You said this mask was formed by the mana bomb? Of all the raven and crow helmets melting together.”

“Some other helmets with them as well,” Shiv muttered. “But yeah. It fits. This is a mask fit for an assassin. Wonder why the System decided to offer me this as a reward. Or how it ensured its creation in the first place.”

Valor explained. The skull floated closer to Shiv, drifting around him, considering the mask.

“Not sure yet,” Shiv said. “Also… the elemental golem I fought didn’t have a face—and some other things don’t look human at all. Perfect Semblance might be missing some details about its scope of effect.”

Shiv looked past Valor and considered the gate in the distance. There were still screams trailing in from afar, and though they were gazing down from a vantage point, there were certain things that could only be gleaned when observed from the ground. “I have an idea about how we can start. I might want to take a walk closer to the gate. See just what kind of forces and other surprises they have arrayed there.”

Uva shook her head immediately. “No. The risk is too great, and you’re rushing too much. Take this slowly and carefully.” Shiv wanted to insist but she continued. “You might be able to return from death, but tell me, does the mask have a Binding Enchantment?”

Shiv looked through the list again and frowned. “No. It’s missing that. My cloak has it.”

“So, then, should you die,” she continued, “you are likely to lose the mask and find your mind exposed to the enemy. And that is ignoring the danger posed by the Jealousy.”

Shiv looked up into the “sky” and frowned at the colossal, looming octopus demon. Its single, crimson eye glowed like the sun through a film of rising smog. “How high is its Psychomancy Skill?”

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“I couldn't contend with it,” Uva admitted begrudgingly. “I do not think even the owl would be fully confident. It is a Great Demon that hails from a dimension that feeds on emotions—and its flavor is deceit and heartbreak.”

“Yeah,” Shiv grunted, seeing her point. “Might not be the best idea to draw its attention. Yet. But we’re going to need to make our approach at some point, and the mask is my best chance of surviving any encounter against a powerful mind mage. At least in the near term. Depends on how good my teacher is.”

Uva gave him a slight smirk. “Depends on how willing the student is to learn. But you see my point. I have an alternative suggestion. One that will be helpful for all of us.” A particularly piercing cry came from afar then, making Adam flinch. “One that might clear our minds of the blackness we have just witnessed and mete out a bit of retribution.”

“Well, do tell,” Adam said, sounding impatient. “And know that we don’t have months to do this—we have maybe weeks at most by this point.” Something on his face soured. “And I can’t believe that the capital hasn’t sent reinforcements. My father—he is a hero! Blackedge is meant to guard against the Abyss. To lose it would compromise the Orange Belt and threaten Fortress City Despero next.”

Valor said with a breath.

“Well, that’s a real consolation for me,” Adam grumbled. “Only my home is at risk. What joy…”

“And we’re going to believe the words of a mind-twisting murderess who sought to kidnap children and train them as slave-assassins?” Adam spat, disgusted.

Adam’s sourness diminished slightly. “Very well. Sister Uva. Let’s see if we can find ourselves some slavers we can question and…” He looked at Shiv and shook his head. “A face for this walking nightmare to .”

Valor added. Both Shiv and Adam regarded him.

Shiv grinned. Adam grimaced.

“Alright, ,” Shiv said, gesturing for Adam to lead. “Show this foolish Young what he must learn.”

“Fine,” Adam muttered. “I need you to listen closely now… the first class at Phoenix Academy…”

Shiv nodded.

“Was called to your instructor! We start that lesson right now.”

“Whoa,” Ikki whispered off by the side. “Did the small surfacer just turn into a male Uva?”

Both Uva and Adam glared at the young Umbral at the same time.

“You know what, Sister Uva, perhaps the lesson should be shared with some of your subordinates too.”

Uva nodded. “Hmm. Agreeable.”

“Uva!” Ikki complained.

***

Between the Umbrals’ familiarity with the wilderness and Adam’s terrifyingly impressive Awareness Skill, it took little time for them to find some stragglers. Adam, Shiv, Uva, and Valor studied a halted cave biter from afar. Below, hidden in the vegetation, were Ikki and the others, spread out and laying in wait.

The cave biter was truly massive—practically the size of a small mountain. It was also loudly bellowing about how it didn’t want to walk anymore, no matter what its contract said.

In response, a few hundred tiny figures holding the treasure trove on its back and driving the slaves on the ground were lashing it with whips. Whips that seemed too small to actually deal such a large beast any harm, but it was flinching each time anyway.

Off along the side of the ebony road, a four meter tall humanoid dimensional made of interlocking shards of metal extracted a few of its blades from the unmoving body of an Umbral. The slave had taken a chance to slip and run when the cave biter decided to go on strike. That same slave was now laying face down in the soft loam, his blood feeding the bioluminescent blades of grass.

The bright blue backdrop made the pool of dark red ever more distinct.

There were perimeter guards as well. Most were lesser elementals of varying varieties, but Uva pointed out two Grudges, which were lesser demons capable of mind magic to some capacity. They resembled writhing patches of shadow outlined by screaming faces. Just looking at them made Shiv’s stomach turn a bit. And then there were a few human looking figures—so human Shiv thought they could pass for surfacers if not for the gleam of their cat-like eyes.

“Well, that’s not a small group,” Adam muttered.

“It’s the smallest group you’ll find among the slave drivers,” Uva said, narrowing her eyes at the enemy. Fully in the field of action, she wore a focus-crystal full helm that covered her entire face, and Shiv felt her mana field expand by half again.

Shiv chuckled.

“Shiv. Please don’t laugh like that.” Adam sighed.

“Like what?” Shiv asked.

“Like you’re planning to peel someone's face off for your own use,” Uva said, a slightly sardonic edge to her voice. Shiv guessed that she was doing that ‘barely smiling’ expression under her helmet. “You were planning to do something like that, weren’t you?”

“Ah,” Shiv said, shrugging. “Yeah, but I was mainly thinking about killing a specific guy for his staff. Your helmet’s given me focus crystal envy.”

Uva hummed a light laugh. “Now. Plan of attack, Adept Adam?” She looked to the Young Lord, and he just blinked.

“What? You’re ceding authority to me?” he asked, surprised.

“I am not ceding anything. I am technically not here. This slave caravan is about to be hit by a group of unaligned raiders or… a .” She gave Shiv a brief glance. “The Arachnae Order and the Composer know nothing, and she sends her condolences to the Lords of Law that reign over Compact.”

Adam barked a laugh. “You know something? You’re growing on me, Uva. Which is strange since ”

“I’m glad you understand. Now. What do your surfacer war colleges teach you?”

“Many things,” Adam began. He made an “L” shape with his hand and closed one eye as he examined the enemy. “But let’s start with tactics. Right now, we have… approximately 153 active hostiles. Most of them are Initiate. . But the Adepts number around twenty. You see those?” He pointed out a few individuals to Shiv. The Deathless was surprised to see how many Adepts were automata as well.

Shiv thought. Automata had different needs from humans, but they still had similar enough ethics and morals. Emotions, too, surprisingly enough.

“Wait… you counted thirty more than I see…” Uva muttered.

“That’s because some of the slaves aren’t slaves.” Adam pointed more targets out to Uva and Shiv. “You see those people? They’re too But more than well-fed, their manacles make the wrong noise with each step—which means they have been modified. And the elementals and guards aren’t really watching them at all… See that idiot in the back? One of her manacles is undone. The other slaves have noticed, but she hasn’t. And the guards aren’t reacting. And that’s not accounting for the rider trying to hide using the towering shroom caps above us.”

Uva was leaning forward with every word, relaying what Adam just told her into her communication brooch. Shiv, meanwhile, couldn’t stop staring at Adam. “Holy shit. You got all that just from a few seconds of watching?”

Adam smirked smugly. “Well, no. I sensed the rider before any of the others. The bastard put a muzzle on his mouth, but the thing’s heartbeat is the sound of thunder in the air—and it’s flying along. I guess it’s probably a rather vicious creature. The skies get quiet when hawks are in flight. Do you know that, Shiv? Because birdsong is like a challenge to a bird of prey, and unfortunately for our friend in the air—” Adam nocked over a half-dozen magical arrows as he drew back on Spellstring. “They are not the hunters here.”