Icarus Awakens

Mavar Helioc, Prime of the Illustrious, stood with his subordinate Sasha in the largest room of the collective. Room was as fitting a word as office was for Mavar’s personal quarters. A large cavern had been emptied and then reinforced to fit this space. Magic encircled the stone to screen against foreign sight, and to prevent anything occupying the room from leaving. Mavar could force his way out, but he was the only one here that could.

This ‘room’ was the heart of one of the Illustrious’ ongoing projects: monster design. It was a form of magic so advanced, Mavar was certain the mortals hadn’t rediscovered it beyond what the Octyrrum allowed Beastmasters to do. Both because of the depth of magical knowledge needed, and because the gods themselves suppressed the practice. They didn’t want their followers to repeat an old mistake. The Illustrious, however, were practiced enough that this wouldn’t be an issue, and they needed every edge they could get in the coming years.

Cells of varying terrains filled the space. To a quick and casual glance, the cavern could have been mistaken for an underground zoo. Small ones for works in progress, and larger ones for testing. Those who had yet to slip the binds of the Gods could even train here against failed projects.

This entire operation was the responsibility of Sasha. She had retained all of her youth, magic making her appear half of her true age. Vanity wasn’t responsible, just the natural effects of a magically imbued body. Mavar, if anyone, was guilty of intentionally altering his looks. The typical human lifespan didn’t get into the thousands of years so some alteration outside of the norm was to be expected. Considering he specialized in transmutation, Mavar could appear however he liked. Mavar had chosen to reinforce his reputation as a wise Prime with a form matching a normal human in their sixties.

Intentions aside, Mavar’s face also displayed concern and anger. Only a fraction was directed at Sasha, enough to keep her standing despite the days they’d spent without sleep. They were both next to a pool ten meters in diameter and depth, watching a pulsing red and blue mass develop. Sasha held instruments, each roughly in the shape of a wand but distinct from the others, between all of her fingers as she worked. This was a rush job based on old designs and would turn out poorly, though neither expected a functional monster. They just needed to see it. Well, Mavar needed to see it, and his will was the only thing that mattered.

“Your analysis,” he said flatly.

“I, I should not comment on this creature until it is finished, Prime,” Sasha answered carefully, thinking this a trick question.

“The anomalies. Start with the first one.”

“Oh.” Sasha had notes taken from the observers but had to rely on memory given her current task. Splitting her attention wasn’t too difficult given how far she had advanced. That wasn’t technically the right term anymore, but if she still had a class she would be around level six. “A ringcat, originally a young variant, level 0. Affected by a yet unknown power Unidentified to the point that even you, Prime, cannot unseal it.” There was no reprimand for the implication. Mavar never punished one who spoke the truth. “In that way, we cannot be sure if its development is merely unusual, or directly affected by the kind of work I do here.”

“It did not develop into one of our variants upon Growth.”

“No, it didn’t.” Sasha pondered that as she continued to modify the growing essence of the creature in front of her. That was delicate work. Only deft hands could maintain the balance of power within the form while altering the mana structure. Ultimately, that set the limits on what the creature could be. When it came to artificially inducing a slow version of natural monster spawning, such a thing had to be set at the beginning. Trying to create something more or less powerful after the fact, even accidentally, could have adverse outcomes.

“To my knowledge, there are ten level one variants we have developed which the Gods restrict from naturally occurring. There is a roughly 10% chance the ringcat could have accessed our designs but randomly Grew into the normal one.”

“A 9.0909, etc, chance,” Mavar corrected sternly.

“Yes, Prime.” A few of the dozens moving about the chamber turned their heads, taking notice of that exchange, but did not interrupt. That would be very foolish. “Not precisely within the bounds of significance, but I would say it is still a thin enough margin that we can rule out that ringcat having access to our designs.” Her eyes widened for a moment. “So what we did to the region’s Spoke hasn’t changed how monsters normally develop under the Octyrrums’ rules. At least, on the macro scale.”

“Correct.” This simple word was how Mavar applauded. “You have grasped the significance of this work then?”

“From what I can tell so far, there is no way this monster would develop naturally. I would like to finish the process to be sure, of course.” Her eyes flicked to the side. “Prime, we don’t know what properties the Incarnate developed, do we?”

“No,” Mavar said flatly. “We played a part, but ultimately it was someone else’s design. An uncertainty I do not enjoy, but what we will receive in trade for our services is worth losing our sure grasp on the future.”

Sasha nodded at that. “Could the Origin Beast have spawned this variant?”

“Yes.” That same tone. Absolute confidence in what he was saying. Mavar only spoke the truth as he saw it. “That is the strongest conclusion I can draw. Though it is strange. None of the collectives reported seeing any of our creations among the enemy’s number during the last Collapse.”

Sasha didn’t have anything to add to that, only fear if that fact were to change for this one. “Its servant managed to fully rouse it. How did that happen without coordination, or you predicting it?”

“The meddling of one aware of how this world works. I do not know enough to speculate who.” Something popped out of the main mass in the pool. It looked like a smaller version of the roughly formed monster. This spawn was also unfinished and died instantly, not under the sustaining effect of Sasha’s equipment. “What would it take to fully spawn this creature in a few minutes? Artificially, of course.”

“More power than mine, Master. It must be the Origin Beast. To appropriate a design this old, it would be reasonable to assume it can craft every variant we have.” She vetted her next question carefully and spoke as respectfully as she could. “Does this conflict with any of your Foresights?”

“No. The consequences of allowing one of the number this early to awaken do not have that resounding of an effect. This local area will experience system incursion sooner, but that is all. They do not significantly improve a monster’s power over what their mana structure would allow. They just alter affinities, strengths, and weaknesses as we do. This is ignoring the grand work they can accomplish through Communion, but that has its limits.”

“Prime, that’s still enough to threaten us!” Sasha exclaimed. Close to impertinence, though here she spoke of her specialty and it was thus allowed. “Take the Draconic variant we’ve implemented in various species. You know what it costs to add those advantages. If someone isn’t prepared to capitalize on the weaknesses, then all there are are strengths. If every Origin Beast that returns gains access to our variants, they could overwhelm the godbound and challenge us for the Hub.”

“This is a threat we can easily manage in kind. We have been preparing for this.”

“But what about the mortals in this region? The plan states that they need to escape.”

“Yes. They will.” Mavar frowned, unable to allow that statement to stand on its own or betray his principles. “They likely will. Enough, at least, along with the one we care about. Though my predictive capabilities are growing less accurate when it comes to this region.” He sighed and pointed to the pool. “Now that we are certain this creature was not spawned in the lake, and cannot be generated naturally, there is no chance of further interference from the Origin Beast. Of those among them that try and escape, I conservatively estimate 80% losses amongst their fighting force and total loss of civilian life.” His even tone betrayed no emotion. “An acceptable outcome. I have given the Artificer what he should need to survive those odds. In the end, everyone else here is of little consequence.”

…

Daniel’s eyes hurt. The soft glow in front of him wasn’t bright enough to damage his vision from prolonged exposure, but he’d been staring so long they’d started to go dry. No eye drops to help with that, and there wasn’t anything that could help him with what he was trying to do.

He was sitting in one of the damaged buildings adjacent to Hagain’s library. The village had suffered in the absence of the people following the Tyrant’s march. Scourging of the countryside had beaten back some but not all of the monster population, and the remainder took their vengeance on the undefended structures. This meant Murdon was met with a worsened housing crisis in addition to the food and morale concerns affecting those under his care. Daniel had an additional problem to solve.

Thomas had destroyed his Focus. Well, it was more accurate to say he’d accidentally caused it to be struck by lightning. The result was the same; Daniel’s Artificer powers were gone. Getting it back was proving difficult.

There weren’t any other Artificers in the Thormundz, which turned out to be a huge problem. As Lograve, and the book he’d given Daniel, had explained, the first Focus people got was made during the last step one normally took in taking a class. While that process was similar, each class had intricacies. Some bound themselves to items, some to ideals or oaths, and for some their own body served as an intrinsic Focus.

While Lograve could walk Daniel through the theory and make suggestions, there was no direct way he could help. The Arcanist definitely couldn’t make another smartphone, which was proving to be the main barrier standing in Daniel’s way. The heliorite sat before him on a heavy table. It was the only magical material of note anyone had, the rumors of andorite and the rest simply a falsehood included to sell Lograve’s team on the initial excursion into the mine. It was Daniel’s best bet at regaining his Focus. Yet, after three days of various activities including poking it, chipping off small pieces, and failed attempts at meditation, Daniel was at a loss.

There was a soft knock at the door, which Daniel took as a sign to stop staring at the magical rock. He had a good guess who it was, especially as he hadn’t heard the guard speak prior. Daniel and his heliorite weren’t the only things this house held. Hunter, for one, normally slept on the ground floor during the day. More important was the collection of magical items and potions that had been recovered from those the Tyrant had distributed them to. One guard stood at the front entrance, and another lounged near the stairs leading to the basement to prevent anyone else from misappropriating them.

It was odd to have a private security detail. Stranger still was the leather armor and spears they carried as opposed to suits and guns. Daniel nodded to the guard on the inside whose name he had forgotten, and saw Thomas walking in with trays of food. Janice closed the door behind them, eyeing the food but not commenting.

The other guard wasn’t as polite. “Don’t suppose you can spare a bite?”

“You’ll get yours when they come by.” Thomas started up the stairs and the other man just shrugged. It’d been the same answer he’d gotten the past two days.

For his part, Hunter didn’t react. He wasn’t hungry.

“Any luck?” Thomas asked hesitantly when they sat down in Daniel’s room.

“Yeah, I uh, think so.”

“Guy,” Thomas sighed. “I had a thought last night. Are you sure it has to be the same thing? Maybe you could make something simple and switch out later.”

Daniel glared at the heliorite. “Are you ever going to tell me how you know when I’m lying?”

“Sorry, Guy.” Thomas took a bite out of the roasted meat. It was from a monster, although the identity was uncertain and the quantity was sparse. It was hot at least, the Cleric had been almost first in line for the public queue. “I should be able to get my Focus back today.”

“That’s good. I’m glad.” There was a minute of silence as both got halfway into their meals. “Hunter’s still not close, but he’s been a lot more active. Thanks for the suggestion.”

“Surprised no one else thought of it while we were in Roost’s Peak.” Thomas shrugged. “Though I’d heard the Beastmasters there didn’t send out their monsters too often. No point, right?” He pulled the rest of the meat off his bone but didn’t immediately eat it. “All of this stuff with you and monsters and, you know…” Thomas trailed off, not daring to go further due to Lograve’s standing threats. “I know getting out of here’s the priority, but Guy. It just, I don’t know.” Thomas shook his head.

You don’t know the half of it, Daniel thought, glad he’d kept his origins a secret from the Cleric. The revelations already made to Thomas had shaken him enough as it was. “I think the problem’s that I’m trying to use this material more than anything. I have an idea of where to start with making what I want, but to get there I have to work out how to get this stupid rock to my level.”

“You can’t use anything else?”

“I don’t think so. I tried for an hour or so with basic stuff like wood and nothing happened.” Daniel nodded to one of the planks that was still in the room. “Not that I expect it to, but I’m running out of ideas. If I can just make it again, I’ll know if I’m right about how I can get more formulae. The cart’s still there?”

“The pile of rotting monsters? Yeah, but I don’t think you have too much time left if you need them. Not to rush you or anything Guy, but if you haven’t left this house then you wouldn’t know. I’d say you have a day before people get rid of them just to be safe from the stink.”

“I guess it’ll have to be tonight. How’s Sigron and the rest?” Daniel asked over whatever Thomas was about to say.

“Tak is pretty much fine now. The only thing holding him up the past few days was that leg. I mean, Guy, he was missing muscle in places and now that’s all fixed. Regeneration,” Thomas grunted. “Almost makes me want to take a level in Totem Warrior.”

“I don’t recommend getting it from another soul.” Thomas laughed and Daniel felt like he was breathing easily for the first time today. The Cleric was humoring him, but that by itself was enough. “So how is Sigron?”

“About the same?” Daniel didn’t need a lie detecting power to hear the hesitation in Thomas’ voice. “It’s not, look, it’s not something you need to worry about.”

“I thought they’d stabilized him?”

“Well yeah, Quala did. Then?” Thomas grit his teeth. “He got an infection. We’re not sure if it’s something specific to the skabs, if that root thing had something, or if it’s just a normal infection, but Quala can’t fix it.”

“She doesn’t have something to cure disease?” Thomas shook his head. From Hunter’s recovery, Daniel knew there wasn’t a one size fits all healing spell, at least at this level. Someone in Roost’s Peak had had an appropriate power, but they hadn’t survived the dragon.

“She even advanced her wisdom to try and get something new. Didn’t work.”

“Potions?”

“Don’t think so Guy. She’d have thought of that. Did you know she stole a few potions before betraying the Tyrant? If there were any I think she’d have mentioned it.” Thomas scratched his head. “Could check, but the guy guarding that door’s always grumpy.”

“What about, uh.” Daniel tried to think. Infection wasn’t his mother’s specialty, though that hadn’t stopped her from warning him about picking at cuts or eating sand. That advice was given at a young age, and understandably didn’t include details specifics on treatment courses should he get one. Did the Octyrrum even have antibiotics? Other remedies, at least? It wasn’t like there was anything he could suggest either way. “What else can you do?”

“Hope we get out of here soon enough. Should be someone in the other regions that can help.” Thomas was watching Daniel closely and he had to ask.

“What is it?”

“You’ve been hard on yourself lately. You ok?”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s not like I gave him the infection or anything. Unless there were bacteria in the glue?”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Daniel said quickly. He hadn’t thought about what could be in the skab glue. It was biological, and that made him somewhat wary of using the remaining spheres. Also, do they know about germs, or do they just call them something else? Either way, another thing to keep track of not mentioning. He looked at the heliorite again. They’d both finished eating and were, at this point, wasting time. “I should keep trying with the Focus. I need to finish it before those corpses go too bad.”

“You think that stinking pile is worth anything?”

“It’s just a theory. I don’t want to tell people and get their hopes up, but if I’m right-” Daniel cut himself off. The idea he had would almost be too good to be true. To know for sure, he had to remake his Focus.

“Well, good luck Guy. Truly. And if you ever need to talk about, you know, everything that’s happened I can come by for more than just food. Or Quala can.”

“Thanks,” Daniel said, not commenting on the offer. “I’m glad you keep coming by with food, but I can get it with what they bring by for Janice and the other guy if you’re tired or busy.”

“It’s not a problem, Guy. See you tomorrow!”

Daniel frowned after Thomas left. It was nice to see him, but he knew part of the reason the Cleric visited was guilt.

He shook his head. Back to work, although he was going to hold off on the heliorite for a few minutes. Hunter, you awake?

Hmmm, was the somewhat aggravated response. The past few days had been taxing for the ringcat as he’d joined in the village’s sweeping hunts around the countryside. Hunter ate what he killed, but Murdon wouldn’t complain about another actor suppressing monster populations. It did mean the ringcat was at continued risk for friendly fire, until Thomas of all people had made a good suggestion.

Other people used monsters. They didn’t hunt by themselves as Hunter did, but some Beastmasters or those with an appropriate power used their creatures as scouts. There were - Daniel stopped himself from using the word collar - sashes that could be used to mark them friendly. No untamed or undominated monster would tolerate these, Hunter certainly hadn’t at first, so it was an easy way to prevent a case of mistaken identity.

I want to try again. I need a distraction and it’s probably better if you’re drowsy anyways. Only for a few minutes.

Fine, Hunter relented without too much opposition. No screaming.

I’m better than that now. Hold on, I’m getting on the bed.

Hmmm.

With repeated exposure to the breadth of Hunter’s sensorium, Daniel had begun to better understand and cope with the overload. It wasn’t just that Hunter sensed things better, it was that he was on a completely different level from Daniel. It couldn’t have just been from the Keen Sense feature the ringcat possessed, the biological differences and ways the nervous system worked had to be in play. Not that Daniel could guess at how that exactly worked, and his only idea to cope so far had been to brute force it.

The analogy he’d landed on was that Hunter’s senses had an added dimension. It was like he was someone from a comic strip that was suddenly brought into the real world. In hindsight, he’d been stupid to think he could effortlessly tolerate Hunter’s body at full strength immediately. The only reason Hunter could handle the reverse was all the times he’d used Moment of Clarity, forcing the ringcat to adapt. Thinking back to the first team fight he’d been in, Daniel felt guilty about what he’d put Hunter through. He’d been so focused on his performance and survival he had just treated the ringcat like an inventory item up until the point Hunter had spoken up for himself.

Things were getting better now on multiple fronts. He’d gotten up to three minutes of tolerating the exposure. At first, it had been like trying to hold onto something that was vibrating intensely, like the prank gum from middle school. With time, it was more like swimming against a current that grew weaker each time. He couldn’t power through it now, but one day he’d be able to inhabit Hunter’s body without issue. He knew it. And then, well, Daniel hadn’t thought that far but it’d be cool at least.

With the slightest hesitation, Daniel asked and was allowed into Hunter’s mind. That process had become as familiar as a handshake. For just a fraction of a second Daniel felt nothing. Then, it was back to trying to withstand the gale force winds that assaulted him. Amidst what seemed the equivalent of music blasting in his ears and pepper spray fired up his nose, Daniel felt humor weakly radiate from Hunter himself. The ringcat had adopted a bemused outlook on how difficult it was for Daniel to tolerate this.

He couldn’t turn Hunter’s head or open the eyes he currently possessed. Taking control of the ringcat was a goal reserved for after he was confident he wouldn’t freak out and accidentally injure him. Daniel ignored that and tried to pick out different senses among the maelstrom. He was getting better at distinguishing common and strong ones, like dirt, but that hardly compared to how Hunter used it to drive Identify Creature.

Cooked meat was another that stood out. Hunter wasn’t too hungry at the moment, he’d gorged almost every night so far, but ringcats were carnivorous hunters. Their senses were tuned to something just like the lunch Daniel had had. Not even the tray remained, but the scent was stronger through Hunter than it had been when it was right up to Daniel’s face.

Isolating individual sounds and scents was one of the strategies Daniel had found worked best to prolong his endurance here. It was probably how Hunter did it too, or else the ringcat was an undiscovered genius when it came to multitasking. Janice shifted outside and Hunter’s ears twitched at the sound, focusing for just a moment on it to detect the possibility of an attack before relaxing.

To Daniel, it was like a grenade had gone off nearby. The small amount of control he’d held in the first ten seconds was shredded under an assault of what he’d previously ignored. This was what had made him panic and start screaming the first time. He suppressed that reaction in his own body at least, but the bleed off of anxiety from the Empathic Link was making parts of Hunter’s fur stand on end.

That was another thing. While Hunter’s keen ears and nose were the primary barriers to Daniel feeling, if not comfortable, then sane during this exchange of senses, the general alien feel of four legs, fur, and fangs had yet to feel natural. Hunter’s exposed canines, and the lower jaw retraction that came from how they were structured with his skull, had the sensation of chronic underbite. At around sixty seconds of his most recent dive, Daniel had re-established thready control by focusing on the scent of a flower preserved in a cup by the window. If Hunter had been fully awake and aware of his surroundings, he might not have been able to. Doing this in a battle, when adrenaline would only spike Hunter’s alertness, was impossible for now.

Good, Hunter commented. While on this side of the space between them, the wall having been fully destroyed by everything that happened, Hunter’s voice felt like it came from all around him. Should Hunter cross over during this time, the telepathy would go back to normal despite the juxtaposition.

Getting better, Daniel thought slowly. How long he could keep this up was directly tied to his concentration and conversation sapped this. He held it there, a feat as mentally taxing as holding a plank position was physically, until the sound of a crying child undid his concentration again. There were several touchstones like the flower he’d either placed or discovered to regain control. Whatever he might have accomplished was foiled by Hunter himself taking the attention of an approaching figure. A saturated palette of senses was thrown at Daniel and he began to drown, metaphorically thrashing against the overwhelming force pushing him down. He was forced to retreat to himself. Damn it!

Sorry.

No, it’s not your fault. I’ll have to get used to that eventually. Daniel opened his own eyes and rubbed his forehead. He had a headache and had probably been getting one while he was occupying Hunter’s mind. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Wait, hold on.

What?

How did my body get a headache if it was your body’s fault?

Not my fault, Hunter thought defensively, though Daniel’s tone hadn’t been accusatory and the ringcat mimicked the joviality.

Huh. Maybe my brain’s still processing everything, even though I’m possessing you? I guess that makes sense.

Someone is here.

Who?

Bird.

Daniel paled. Tlara?

No. Hunter almost sounded curious. One from the mine.

Tak? Thomas did say he was almost recovered. Hang on, I’m coming down.