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Chapter 289 Trap
🕑 Added 2022-11-06 22:30:26 +0000 UTCAuthor's note:
Here it is!
Sorry for being late. I might be a bit addicted to Slay the Spire.
Anyway, I'm glad I cut the last one where I did. This one worked out quite well like that. It's also a little longer than average.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Cheers!
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The nest was covered in webs. That should have been obvious. I had seen the entrance after all but I had not expected the extent to which the webs were utilized. Most of the spiders living in the nest were not as massive as Selene. In fact, the majority was more like something you would expect in Australia. What were those called? Huntsman spider? And those were the sapient ones. There were lots of others between common house spiders and tarantulas.
That was the best comparison I had for how large the nest’s inhabitants were. Their species was without fail the same as Selene’s: giant blue jumping spider. Only that the only true giant was the Progenitor herself. That lead to many small tunnels and openings in the webs letting the smaller spiders move around the main pathways. There were structures that looked like little web-houses and meeting places. A few residents peeked out of tiny windows.
There were normal spiders here, as well. Tiny, non-sapient, and insignificant other than as a food source. They rushed through the gaps between web and walls or tried to get past the main residents and most of them made it. I later learned Selene’s children were making sure to eat only a few so their food source would not disappear.
I was mostly using my new Skill to find all the spiders. Without it, I would have overlooked at least two-thirds of them. There was some light here and there coming from vis crystals but the caverns were mostly dark.
It was difficult to walk on the web. After a few steps, my talons had cut through a few dozen strands and were tangled in sticky threads. I decided to shift my body again, away from the metallum and vitreus form. Instead, I chose aer, ordo, and tenebrae. A combination which would hopefully let me simply slip through the web.
I decided to go for a bit of a gamble and skip the process of going back to my original form. Instead, I drew in the vitreus vis and replaced it with aer. Once I felt it settle just fine, I started to swap metallum and tenebrae. I noticed Selene had stopped and was observing me carefully. The metal started to dissipate, first around my Core, then further outwards. Bit by bit, it was replaced by pure darkness. The aer in my wings started to mix into the tenebrae and set it into motion. Within moments, my body had become a living storm of black. Roiling shadows pulsed all across my body as the storm still raged outside.
“What is that?”, Selene asked.
“A Skill of mine”, I said, “It should make it easier to move in the webs.”
“You are powerful for your age.”
I hooted. Or at least I tried. It was more of a howling wind only set lower by a few octaves. As if it was blowing a horn all by itself.
“Thanks”, I sent.
“Can you move, now?”
I tried and found my shadowy limbs slipping around the threads. In fact, I was sinking into them. It stung a little to pull my feet out as if a million knives were slicing them open from the inside but I was on powerful painkillers. I pulsed the vis of my new form and quickly realized I could make parts of myself denser than others. That let me easily stand on top of the web. And I could not stick to the glue, either, since I was only darkness and air.
“It works”, I said.
Selene sent approval through the connection before turning around and leading me deeper. As we followed the tunnels, I saw more and more magic in the webs around me. A few thicker threads, possibly thousands woven together, started to line the walls. I could make out hints of a pattern here and there but what really drew my attention was the vis flowing through them. The aspects were mostly praecantatio and auram with some potentia here and there.
After a few more twists and turns, we arrived in a large room. It was at least twenty metres across and mostly octagonal. One wall was set a little deeper with a bunch of pipes and constructs placed in the indent. The ceiling and floor were covered in more webs forming patterns. Nitor flames flickered along the walls.
“Is this your workshop?”, I asked.
“Yes. Since I have access to more useful materials, I have been working on something. Your first visit inspired me.”
“Where I showed you Safrah’s ideas?”
“The thaumic weave, yes.”
“What have you done with it?”
“I have a much easier time infusing my webs with aspects as I produce them. It is still difficult to single out just one so I devised a process to clean off the unwanted. Let me show you.”
Selene walked over to the constructs and pulled a set of levers. Immediately, vis began rushing through the system. I spotted a few wheels starting to spin and threads being pulled through what appeared to be water. Stepping closer, I spotted another flame of nitor was making it boil and the basin was a slightly atypical crucible. It was shaped more like a trough than a cauldron.
Moments later, small shards of empty vis crystals started to drop into the oddly-shaped crucible. They fizzled for a moment before shooting right back out into a container after having absorbed some of the excess vis in the water. On the other side, the string left with one less aspect.
“What do you do if you don’t have the aspect yourself?”, I asked.
“I run the thaumic spinner in reverse. It drops objects with the essence I want into the crucible and infuses the string as it goes through.”
“And how long have you been using this?”
“The first prototype was built over a year ago. This version is not even two weeks old.”
“I see. Is there anything you would like me to help you with? Or should I just get some rest?”
“There… is one thing. But… “
“Is it dangerous?”
“Not directly, no. I have built a prototype to contain tainted beings that does not require silverwood.”
I stared at Selene.
“You did what? How? Explain!”
“It does not contain taint itself. Unless you only put a creature inside, it will not work. The contamination would quickly erode the delicate work. It uses the averse effects of sano and alienis on vitium. It will run a tainted beast rugged until it collapses from exhaustion, letting me study it in detail.”
“That… is interesting. Can you show me?”
“We are standing inside. The centre of the nest was equipped with vis-infused threads that interlace to form a supply of energy and a supporting structure to prevent any… major mishaps. The centre of the trap is there.”
She indicated a fine spiral weave in the middle of the room.
“A control room is directly below. I can place a set of crystals to trap any target, not just tainted beasts, as long as I find their contra.”
“And what can I help you with?”
“I want to trap you.”
I blinked.
“That is awfully straightforward. I assume you have a reason?”
“Your shifted forms will allow me to study different aspects and how they react. Please try to escape.”
I noticed my breathing had accelerated. I forcefully calmed myself. This was for an experiment. If Selene could figure out how to heal tainted beasts and return them to normal we would make a lot of progress.
“You’ll let me out, right?”, I asked.
“Of course. Once we are done. I want to try it on your metal form.”
“… why?”
“I have not prepared for anything else. I believe you use metallum, vitreus, and ordo, correct?”
“Yes.”
“I suspect I will need a counter for spiritus as well. That ends up with tenebrae, vacuos, perditio and… what would you say?”
“From what I see you doing, just more tenebrae?”
“That… seems weak.”
“If you really want you can go lux and tenebrae in a mixed crystal. Yeah, that’s probably more accurate.”
“I have not considered multiple aspects. Thank you, Fio. You have already helped me a lot. Now, will you let me try?”
“If you explain it to me in detail.”
“After. It will be more accurate if you do not understand it.”
I sighed deeply.
“Sure. Give me a few minutes.”
I pushed [Telepathy] to connect me to Catori on a separate line from where I was talking to Selene.
“Hey. Are you up to date?”
“Mhm?”, came the answer.
“I’m in Selene’s nest, right now.”
“Oh? What’s the matter?”
“We’re going to run an experiment where she will try to trap me in a magical… it almost looks like a ritual.”
“That… Fio, are you sure?”
“… It could help a lot. It’s supposed to be able to trap tainted beasts.”
“Huh. That would be useful. My horse body is going to sleep soon so just tell me if you need to swap.”
“Thanks. You having fun?”
“Yes. A lot.”
“That’s good.”
I refocused on the spider.
“Okay. Let’s start.”
She twitched with her pedipalps, almost like a nod. Moments later, she was gone in another tunnel.
I moved to the centre of the room, carefully observing the threads. While Selene did not want me to know any details, I wanted to at least have an idea of what I was going to deal with. Sadly, the pattern was basically impossible to figure out. There were so many threads of different aspects woven together, I had no chance to see any details.
“Are you in position?”, Selene asked.
“Let me shift to my metal form.”
I stepped into the centre and activated [Eldritch Shift] again.
“Ready”, I sent.
“I will start, then”, Selene answered.
At first, nothing happened. I expanded my senses to make out anything different. After about five seconds, the thick threads leading out of the room started to glow with vis. First only to my magical senses, then to my eyes as well. The energy spread into the chamber and along the ceiling. It took me a minute to recognize the tiny thread of vinculum vis running along the walls. It had been completely invisible before.
“Startup complete. Activating.”
For the next step, I looked at the ground. This time, it only took an instant for the trap to activate. Energy rushed along the spiral pattern and I shifted. My talons cut into the webs and vis flowed into me. Always just tiny bits that were slightly unpleasant. They were too small to lead to my Core and too large to ignore. I had to…
What was that? A voice? Steps came up a wooden staircase. A cage rattled, disturbed by the inhabitant’s screeching. I was the inhabitant. I was trapped.
My perception drew inwards as a familiar green face walked up to me. It was just the face and one hand. The rest was glaring brightly and yet unable to blind me.
“There you are. It’s time for the daily donation, darling!”
The idiot laughed. The traitor cackled. Ignas, the ork. He was dead! No! He! Was! Dead!
Rapid breaths turned to metallic hoots and screeches and I dodged the green fingers. I struck out with a wing. I bit. The taste of blood wet my throat. I lashed out with a talon. [Strong Grip] activated as I grabbed onto the metal bars. With a shriek almost louder than my [Intimidating Screech], the iron shattered. So did the dark room and the bright ork. His face was distorted in pain for just a second before being replaced by my face.
No. That was Catori.
She was worried. I looked around and realized I was in our soul. In my human-sized owl body. I took a deep breath. My other self stood before me and leaned on me. Gently, not a full hug. But she was present. I was not alone.
“Thanks”, I said.
“Of course”, she answered.
I spent a full fifteen minutes without moving at all. At some point, I started to see more of the room. I spotted the TV still showing my vision. It was tilted and directly above the ground. I must have fallen over at some point. The important part was Selene standing in front of me, clicking her fangs. Her pedipalps were twitching, occasionally prodding me. She seemed worried.
“I should go back”, I said.
“Mhm.”
“Selene is panicking.”
“She is.”
“I should not make her worry.”
“You owe her nothing.”
“I… What?”
Catori met my eyes. Her lips were pressed into a thin line.
“You owe her nothing. Let me go and speak my mind.”
A shudder went down my spine at her cold voice.
“Thanks. But I’m fine.”
She pouted.
“I’ll tell her.”
“You trust way too easily.”
“It’s why we have so many friends.”
Catori chuckled.
“Okay, fine. You win.”
She patted my chest feathers.
“These are really comfy. Do you mind if I cuddle your body while you’re outside?”
“You mean inside. This is outside.”
“Not for me, it’s not. At least for now.”
I scoffed.
“Go ahead.”
She grinned and cuddled into my chest. I rolled my eyes, even though owls can not do so, and pushed myself back to reality.
With a jerk, my body rolled over.
There was a hiss as Selene jumped back.
“Blegh. That was fucking awful”, I sent.
“I apologize. I did not expect it to be this bad for you.”
“You couldn’t know. I have a… history.”
“With contra aspects?”
“With being trapped.”
“I see.”
“This thing is horrible but it works. Right?”
“I will have to try with a squirrel”, Selene said.
I laughed. Both through [Telepathy] and with my body. Metallic hoots echoed through the cave, cut off in a slightly off rhythm. It took almost five minutes for me to calm down in which the spider simply stared. Once I finally stilled, she sent me a hint of amusement.
“I am glad I could lift your spirits.”
“Me too, Selene, me too.”
