Macronomicon
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Chapter 205: It Gets Worse
🕑 Added 2020-07-24 22:13:22 +0000 UTCEverybody understand the plan? Kala asked, scanning the assembled fighters.
All I gotta do is make the godlike entity that predates our kingdoms fear for his life, right? Karen asked, casually heaving the thick sword over her armored shoulder.
Behind her, Learner assumed an identical pose, presumably mimicking the strongest person there to uncover the secrets of her strength.
I dont want to look like the most bloodthirsty individual, Baroke said, idle hands touching each arrow sticking out of the quiver at his waist. But why not just kill him?
Two reasons, Kala said, her stomach souring as she partially lied to her friend. First, because killing this thing is rather difficult. And second, it is not the most ideal outcome: itll just make him mad. And third because this is the way it needs to happen.
Killing him will make him mad? Maya asked with a raised brow. Thats what? The tiny ranger was unable to wrap her head around something that wasnt stopped by death.
It means exactly what I said, Kala said.
Okay, so pressure him into leaving so he takes us seriously, but not enough to make him tell on us to his friends. Karen said.
Kala snapped her fingers. Exactly.
Ive fought a couple immortal things in my day. Theyre tricky. Karen said, nodding sagely.
When!? Baroke demanded.
Do you think she became the best fighter on the continent by raising Calvin? Ella asked with a sharp grin.
I dunno. Maybe?
The figure in the sky flickered in front of Calvin and backhanded him out of the sky.
Aaand thats the signal. Kala said. Go, go, go!
***Calvin***
There was an explosion of white, and the brief tugging feel of centrifugal force acting on his limbs before Calvin slammed full-bodied into something that felt a lot like stone. Calvins Body had risen to the point where stone felt more like wood, but any tavern brawler will tell you that getting hit over the back with a chair isnt exactly pleasant.
Calvin exhaled a breath, blood and tooth fragments sputtering out of his mouth as he tried to open his eyes and stop the world from spinning.
Blue sky dotted with smoke above him, but it was still spinning As the spinning gradually slowed, Calvins tongue found another chunk of tooth and reflexively pushed it out of his mouth.
I dont think those were baby teeth, Calvin thought, stifling an insane chuckle and trying not to swallow blood.
His jaw was unresponsive. The piece of bone connected to his muscles hanging there on its own while the rest of it was shattered, only held in place by the flesh around it, and slowly beginning to swell.
Any idea what this guy wants with me? Calvin thought.
Hes probably after me. Im way more important than you, after all.
Guarshit, you ever destroy a place called Pelior and exile a king of some kind?
No, I cant say that I have. Huh.
Calvin was trying to sit up when the blue sky above him turned black.
Crap.
A knee landed on Calvins pelvis, a palm on his chest, driving him back into the dirt. It had been the hard-packed dirt of the street, not stone, and Calvin was a couple inches deep.
Nadia, a little help? Calvin thought.
Nadia flew in, aiming to tackle the creature off of him.
With a dismissive wave, thousands of threads of tightly controlled Bent emenated from the creatures hand. The threads pulled Nadias form apart like a master weaver removing a stitch.
Nadia became green smoke that passed harmlessly over the two of them like a rolling fog bank.
I would love to instill the despair of an entire planets death into you, The creature said, tapping Calvin on the forehead. But you dont even know why, and that simply takes the meaning out of torturing you. So well make this quick and painless.
He reached for Calvins chest.
Not good!
Calvin eyed the miniature cannon on his belt and reached out for it
His Bent was driven back and scattered against the oppressive aura of the creature bending over him.
When in doubt, fight dirty.
Calvin heaved in a breath and spit a spray of blood into the creatures eyes, followed by a haymaker.
It caught his fist with its eyes closed.
Really? It asked, scowling at him as it tore the soaked rags away from its face, revealing a visage that was decidedly not human.
Pebbly, brown-red skin, big green eyes. Yep, thats definitely a Harbinger.
Calvin tried to knee it in the balls, but it didnt seem to do much of anything.
Enough wriggling, It said, putting its hand on his chest.
There was a shifting, tearing sensation as the world seemed to tilt, and for a brief moment, Calvin was in two places at once, watching the creature draw a brilliant orb out of his chest.
At the same time, he was the brilliant blue orb, viewing himself, the Harbingers palm, and the surroundings, with a perfect sphere of vision. It also felt like there was something on the tip of his tongue. Something important hed forgotten, that would come back to him any second now.
The view from his eyes started to grow dim
Hey!
A slab of steel impacted against the Harbingers midsection, sending it tumbling into the distance.
Calvins view snapped back into his body, and he gasped in a ragged breath he didnt realize hed been holding, veins throbbing at the edge of his vision.
Hes still breathing. Karen said, her mannish mug staring down into Calvins face.
Calvin groaned wordlessly, trying to wave his adoptive mothers grimace away. His vision was wobbling and dotted with stars, and the adrenaline was starting to drain the pain out of his jaw, leaving his body numb and tingling from pure endorphins.
I think you have a concussion.
Noo, really?
Karen flickered out from in front of him, and as Calvin tried to sit up, he heard explosions and cursing from all around him. for a brief moment, he thought he saw Barokes Thews before an explosion rocked the side of the building beside them.
Dont try to sit up so quick, Kalas voice echoed through his fuzzy consciousness. Youve got a concussion.
Calvin tried to speak, but all that came out was a dribble of blood from a slack jaw.
Calvinian Summoning
Atom Ant
Chimera
33/47 Bent remaining.
Calvins Elite Nadia erupted from the green smoke emanating from his hands.
Nooo, really? Nadia said, crossing her arms, acting as his voice. When did you guys get here?
Oh, about an hour ago, Kala said, her gaze sliding away from his. I had a hunch you might need some help. She was guilty about something was it not warning him what a shit-show Allast would be? Or was it something more?
Well, your timing is excellent. Nadia voiced his thoughts. I gotta get back into the fight.
He reached out his hand for Nadia to help him up, when a hand gently pressed against his shoulder, stopping him.
Calvin, Kala said as an explosion erupted in the sky, painting her in harsh orange light. We have a couple minutes. Can we talk?
Oh shit.
Oh shit. Elliot echoed.
Oh shit. Nadia followed. Thats never good.
When girls wanted to talk it was usually not about something good. When it was in the middle of a battle against some kind of inhuman killing machine Calvin had no idea, but it couldnt be good.
Calvin glanced up at the furious Harbinger flying over them, harried by Karen and Ella on the ground, Learner and Baroke in the sky. The body-builder whipped out shots seemingly at random that forced the creature to give up the advantage or receive holes while Learner attempted to drive it down where the land-bound fighters could engage. She was sporting a double pair of wasp-like wings, perhaps stealing from Nadias design.
They were doing surprisingly well. Calvin was hardly needed.
Okay, Nadia said for him as he looked back down at Kala. What did you wanna talk about?
I dont know if Itll be real, or if this is the last time Ill actually see you again, Kala said, her eyes tearing up. I just want you to know that you made my life worth living. You were a lifeline that pulled me out of the destiny I was slated for, and made everything a bright, wonderful
Kalas shoulders shook and she seemed to swallow back a sob.
This seems like a good time for a hug.
Calvin grabbed Kala and drew her into a hug, trying not to bleed or drool on her.
Youre not planning on dying are you? Nadia asked for him.
Kala shook her head buried in his chest, jostling his jaw in the process. Calvin tensed up from the pain, but didnt push her away.
I lub yu, she said into his shirt.
Calvin wanted to speak, but his swelling jaw simply wouldnt move. He petted her hair.
I love your sweet ass too, babe, Nadia said, petting Kala.
Kala hiccupped, something halfway between a laugh and a sob as she pushed away from him, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. She glanced up at Nadia and shook her head.
The Succubus-in-training took the hint and turned around, finding somewhere else to look.
I Just want you to know that I love you and this was the best outcome I could see. She said quietly, taking his head in her hands and kissing him, heedless of the split lip.
MMm! Calvin groaned as his face flared up with pain.
Oh, sorry. Kala whispered before leaning forward and pressing her soft lips to his forehead. Calvin wished he could actually smell her over the blood in his mouth.
The best outcome? I do not like the sound of that.
The best outcome? Nadia asked for him. I do not like the sound of that.
You dont warn someone beforehand that something was the best possible outcome unless its a shit outcome.
Kala seemed like she was about to say something, when Baroke crashed into the street beside them, tumbling to the side until he crashed into a half-burnt shop-front, sending wooden utensils clattering down around him.
Agh, he kicked me in the dick! Baroke groaned, curled up into a ball.
Kala pulled out of Calvins arms, glancing at Baroke with a concerned expression. Thats my cue. Get back into the battle as soon as you can. Were going to need your help. Maybe do something about that concussion.
A moment later, Kalas warmth was gone as she threw herself back into the battle.
Nadia, Calvin thought, directly linking his mind with Nadias
Yeah?
Ranged. Throw or shoot physical objects and try to stay out of range of his counterspells. I need your main body to be on emergency Siphon duty.
Nadias lips curled up in a smile. Got it.
And help me up.
One Nadia grabbed Calvin by the waist and lifted him into the air like a small child, the wings on her waist buzzing as they took off.
The other seven Nadia started picking up whatever iron or stone rubble they could find with their bare hands and hurtling it toward the Harbinger from a safe distance.
Atom Ant really shone through, as each throw from Nadia created a loud pop! hissing through the air to deflect off of a blueish field with a slight ripple, with nearly the same power as one of Barokes shots.
At the very least, it will force the bastard to keep his shield up. There has to be some kind of cost for that.
Shortly after the battle with Magenta, Calvin had chosen one of his Abilities for Bent Manipulation: Spell Penetration, the one that made his spells harder to counter.
It was irritating that the bastard had basically blown through it like a stiff wind through a fart, but that just meant Calvin had to get more creative.
I cant cast spells on him directly, and his shield seems to absorb almost everything physical.
Bastard, Baroke groaned, staggering to his feet and firing another shot. The arrow pierced right through the blue shield, drawing a silver line between the two of them. The creature dodged the arrow, but Kala managed to sneak a little chunk of rock through the opening and graze the side of Pashas face by aiming for his destination.
The Alien creature paused, wiped the blood off his cheek, and glared at them.
Oh boy, he looks mad, Calvin thought wryly.
Open the Warp Tank.
30/34 Warp Remaining
Now, lets see what we can do about that annoying counterspelling. Nadia, throw yourselves into the grinder please. Slow enough to let Bad Penny recover your numbers.
You got it, boss.
One of the eight Nadias lunged forward, cutting through the air toward the Harbinger, a light-refracting sword emerging from her fingertips.
The Harbinger saw her coming and kicked Learner and Kala out of his space before waving a hand. Calvin could feel him releasing another wave of Bent tendrils to tear the summon apart.
There!
Calvin shot his Bent out in as long and thin strands as he possibly could, aiming in front of his charging summon. If he interrupted the creatures counterspell, all the better, but Calvin just wanted to get a feel for how he did it.
Calvins threads tangled with Pashas, and he suddenly felt like he was in an arm-wresling matche with a porous squid, and his arm was made of soggy pulp.
Pashas tendrils wrapped around his own and forced them abck while absorbing them. there were more of them, but they werent necessarily stronger, simply overlapping their strength and curling together like living things to achieve an effect greater than the sum of its parts.
32/47 Bent remaining
31/47 Bent remaining
Calvin quickly severed his connection to his own Bent, to prevent the creature from drawing even more out of him. Nadia was reduced to green smoke in a fraction of a second, with no tangible benefit from losing two Bent to the caster.
If Calvin didnt have the Warp, he might have had no clue how masterful the opponents Bent control was. He would have only known that he got his ass kicked.
But he did have the Warp flowing through him, and for as long as it lasted, Calvin was a savant. He saw the faintest edges of the creatures methods.
Bent manipulation has reached level 13!
Bent manipulation has reached level 14!
Bent Manipulation has reached level 15!
+1 Intuition
27/34 Warp Remaining
Please Choose an ability or Mutation
Abilities:
Ghost hand: Manipulate Bent stored by Beli Ma as hands with physical attributes mirroring Users mental Attributes. Increases range of Beli ma by 1 inch per level of Bent Manipulation.
^From Beli Ma
Bent Reclamation: Users Abilities have a (correction)% chance to reclaim Bent spent on them when countered.
Interference: Bent Manipulation Correction now applies when interfering with other Users Bent constructs.
Bent Condensation: Condense 5 Bent into one hundred grams of black liquid Bent. One hundred grams restores 1 Bent.
^No wonder those potions are so expensive.
Sliding Scale: Add up to (level)% To one numerical effect of an Ability while taking the same percentage away from another numerical aspect.
^ Ex. +5% Duration, -%5 Mass
Suspend Spell: Delay activation of a Bent ability by (level)^3 seconds. Point of origin at users discretion, within limits of original Ability.
Polyglot: Abilitys Bent signatures are randomly encoded with a combination of users fluent Languages, increasing difficulty of deciphering, copying and countering Abilities by (Level)%
^From Language Barrier, Spell Penetration.
Mutations:
All Seeing Eye: User can physically see Bent.
^ Fuck Bent sense, Why not just see the damn stuff?
Warped Bent: Users Bent is now closer to Warp in the way it interacts with the environment. More difficult to counter, more difficult to control. May cause mutations.
Calvin scanned the available abilities quickly, writing off the ones hed seen before and quickly sorting the rest.
I Choose Interference.
Calvins head tingled for a moment as the technique manifested, his concussion sending sparkling lights across his vision. He didnt have time to sit and wait, though.
Lets see how this works now. Nadia.
At his signal, another Nadia charged the Harbinger.
The creature snorted, but instead of waving his hand dismissively, he formed a claw and shoved it toward Nadia.
Calvin shot his Bent out, aiming to stop the attack before it gained steam. His Bent filaments came into contact, trying to emulate the creatures absorptive qualities.
Bent Manipulation has reached level 16!
Bent Manipulation has reached level 17!
25/34 Warp Remaining
Calvin managed to delay the spell a tiny bit longer this time, earning himself a furious scowl.
The creatures Bent broke through Calvins block and lanced through Nadia, poofing her instantly before jumping to the remaining six Nadia, leaping unerringly from one summon to the next before the invisible attack bore down on Calvin.
Calvin put his whorls of Bent from Beli Ma between himself and the attack.
The attack tore through his whorls, but they slowed it down just long enough for Calvin to hold his hand out in front of him and create the thin filaments, trying to tear the attack apart.
It didnt work.
From what Calvin could tell from making contact, the Attack voraciously sought out Bent to absorb, and it was currently eating through his Bent, trying to follow it back to the source and hollow him out. It was programmed to attack a specific flavor of Bent after getting a taste of it, seeking out targets by order of similarity.
Just by the feel, Calvin could tell, once it was inside him, it wouldnt be pretty. it was designed to tear apart whatever container it rampaged around inside.
30/47 Bent remaining
29/47 Bent remaining
28/47 Bent remaining
The invisible attack was held back four feet away from him, milling through his Bent, and slowly getting closer. Calvin could feel it consuming his Bent to feed its own power, getting faster and faster.
The spell was so intricate and powerful, it felt like struggling against a living thing, trying to kill a boar by beating it with turnips, bread, and meat-scraps.
Boars arent exactly smart, though. You can lead a boar to a cage with food.
Calvin kept fending off the attack with one hand, while the other one built a tantalizing ball using his remaining Bent.
At the last second, Calvin connected the two together and tossed the ball off to the side.
0/47 Bent remaining
The attack chased down Calvins Bent and chowed down on it for a moment before dissipating. With no remaining Bent of Calvins to consume, it consumed itself.
Bent Manipulation has reached level 18!
Bent Manipulation has reached level 19!
23/34 Warp Remaining
The Harbinger shoved Learner away from himself, flickered up into the sky and glanced down at Calvin, looking back at him, unharmed. He must not have been expecting that, because he bared his oversized teeth in a snarl.
From a Bent standpoint, that was clearly a great win for the Harbinger, but it was expecting it to grievously wound Calvin in the process. Not getting hurt by the attack was a win in Calvins book.
They shared a look.
Calvin shrugged, glancing around as if confused about where the attack might have gone.
Not my fault your spell is simpleminded.
Got anything left in the tank, kid? It asked.
Try me, Calvin gave the creature some universal sign language. The only one he really knew.
Nadia.
On it.
The creature held out a hand, and a bolt of blue fire arced out, heading for Calvins face.
A thousand miles away, fingers made fists in the sheets.
1/47 Bent remaining.
Calvin held a hand up, jettisoning a cloud of Bent from his palm.
The Iroh Special
0/47 Bent remaining
The bolt of fire sank into the cloud, which coalesced around it, replicated the spell and shot back, all in a tiny fraction of a second.
Pasha seemed surprised, warding off the attack with a hasty chop of his hand, causing the counter to wink out between them.
A fraction of a second later, Learner landed a kick on the back of his head, her space-warping blades unable to penetrate the creatures skin.
The Harbinger spun and punched Learner away, tearing off part of her jaw in the process.
Calvin was interested to note that the number of tiny Learners that spilled out was minimal. It seemed she really had replaced most of her body with human parts.
Which meant getting her jaw torn off was bad.
Learner didnt seem to care much, backing up long enough to run a palm over her face, the flesh fixing itself instantly before she shook a bit of blood off her fingers.
1/47 Bent remaining
2/47 Bent remaining
Damnit! Pasha growled, eyeing Calvin furiously.
Calvin spread his arms wide, taunting him.
Come at me, bro.
The Harbinger vanished from above him, flickering out of sight. The only sign of where hed gone was the sudden gaze on the back of Calvins neck.
Crap, Calvin thought, ducking reflexively, wind rushing over his scalp.
With his tarak skin, Calvin felt Karen burst through the floor behind the two of them, swinging her oversized sword in a perfect ambush.
Claws still outstretched, The Harbinger was only barely able to interpose his arm between himself and the blade before the attack caught him, sending him tumbling off the roof of the building, slamming into the next one over.
The creature coughed, pulling itself out of the wooden building, its left arm hanging loose at its side, a deep gash pumping blood down to his black nails.
Calvin glanced over at Karen curiously.
Why is he not in two pieces? Calvin thought. Hed literally seen an imaginary Karen put a cut through a fourth dimensional being and the real stone wall it was living in. There was no way she couldnt have bisected the bastard with a clean hit.
Is she taking it easy on him? Why?
More harbingers who might retaliate? Calvin had been playing the politics game long enough to think of a few of the obvious answers.
He was wrong.
Alright, thats enough. As nice as it would have been to get revenge, I cant risk failure here. Ill catch you later. The Harbinger muttered, drawing itself to its feet. With its good arm, it pulled out a small black metal handle with a little tube
Dodge! Elliots scream was loaded with urgency, shocking Calvin into action.
Calvinian summoning
Atom Ant
Heart of the swarm
1/47 Bent remaining.
Calvin burst into millions of wasps, scattering in every direction. Whatever the attack the object made, enough of the swarm should be able to survive to allow him to
>>>System Analyzing<<<
Ravager Identified, Beginning c?????u????l??l??i?????n?????g???? p????r?????o???????c?????e?????????d????u????????r??????????e?????.???????.?????.????.??.??????
Everything went black.
Comments
Deinos
Heh I don't know if you already planned for it when I asked, but it's fun to see the content of the question as part of the story.
A disgruntled nondescript squirrel
welp... feels like that gun should not effect him at all... Elliot has stated he is Isolated from the overall system so.... it would be funny if Elliot was the mad King, pushed to reincarnate in a non system world only to be then integrated and then captured by his own follower and finally trapped inside the mind of the one who killed him to make him his magical grandpa master.
Andrew
Thank you!
SunderGoldmane
I don’t remember this....
0xFFF1
Inb4 Calvin wakes up as alien baby
The Shard
I actually liked the Garth time skip, I was less amused by the Space Opera it turned into, but him waking up as the Devil . . . super awesome
Ford-Thomas Frank Loveland
Luckily I remember Elliot theorizing the existance of a ravenger killswitch and searching his soul for it a long time ago. I sure hope he found it
Macronomicon
Just a heads up: There's not going to be a time skip of any significance. I learned my lesson with Garth. Stay tuned. I'll try and get you your fourth chapter before sunday night.
