It's a mont before Tarin gathers himself again, and I don't bla him. My own mind is awhirl with thoughts, the main one being about Tarin's mory of all this. I'm under no illusions about it; there's every possibility that he might not rember anything into the next loop, but the fact that this is possible at all, outside of exceptions like Ahkelios...
It makes think it might be possible to reproduce this. But I'm thinking too far ahead first, I need to figure out all the rules. I'd ask Gheraa, but if he's on my side, then he would have told already if he were able. If he's not, asking him for the rules is only liable to give false information.
Though I think there's a part of that's accepted that Gheraa ans no real harm. He's playing a part, certainly, but everything in tells that he's playing that part to my benefit.
I still don't entirely trust him, but... I'm willing to give him a chance.
I think.
But that's a possibility for the far future.
Tarin speaks again, his ntal voice tinged with a combination of hope and worry. We beat raid? How I die?
"We did beat the raid, and I don't know," I answer. Tarin's Firmant pulses erratically at my response, and I elaborate, trying to calm him down. "I died shortly after you did, ti did the looping thing, and when I ca back, you were in a coma and the Interface was trying to kill you. Permanently. You've been fighting off the Interface this whole ti."
His Firmant settles a little bit. I win? Tarin asks, his voice tinged with anxiety, and I almost laugh. That's his concern?
"Well, with a little bit of help," I say. "We got you so dicine made with Phantom Roots. Took a bit to get it, let tell you."
I win, Tarin says. I can feel the old crow nodding away, satisfied with himself, and I can't help the slight smirk that steals across my face.
"Missed you, you old fart," I say.
I not fart! Tarin sounds absolutely offended. I can almost picture him flaring his wings and huffing at in outrage. You not call fart!
"It's a term of endearnt," I protest.
...Weird term. Suspicion radiates off of Tarin's Firmant. To be fair, I don't know why I called him that an old impulse from an old friendship, I think. There's an old man he reminds of.
I not old, Tarin sulks, and I laugh.
"Fine, fine. I missed you, is my point," I say. "I'm in the middle of a phase-shift, apparently. You know anything about that?"
Of course I know. Tarin manages to project the ntal image of folding his wings across his chest, in a gesture I'm certain he inherited from Mari. I sense. You talking to mid-shift. I proud! No one phase-shift so fast! Not even Na
Tarin cuts himself off, his Firmant going silent. Harder to hide things in thought-speak, he eventually says.
"I can imagine," I say dryly. "I've t Naru. Don't worry."
You et him? Alarm flares around Tarin again, coalescing into fear and concern. He hurt you?
"Not permanently." I grin, because it's the best thing I can do. Tarin doesn't need to know the specifics of how Naru hurt , or how he'd fought with his mother and probably killed the both of us. "I got better."
You loop, Tarin says. It's half-accusation, half-realization. I nod my head slightly it's not like I didn't expect him to conclude that much, he just doesn't need to know the specifics. Then, realizing he probably can't see , I respond verbally.
"Yes," I say.
Okay. Now not ti for discussion about... son. Tarin hesitates a second before using the word. You phase shift. I tell you rules. You understand?
"Yes. Go."
Tarin's Firmant flickers. Good. Phase shift happen when Firmant reach new quality level. Ti in phase shift different. You start new thing, ti slow down. You do nothing or keep doing old thing, ti slowly speed up.
"aning when we started this conversation, ti was slower, but the longer we talk, the more it speeds up?"
Yes. Good. I can hear the approval in Tarin's ntal voice. Different explanation. Phase-shift realm not stable. New actions increase stability, otherwise stability always decreasing. Important to understand.
"Got it."
You lucky. Four Firmant sources. Each one increase stability. But you need affinity, yes? I help. Mari help. Akar... up to her. She help, probably.
Akar is the healer-crow's na, I imagine. "But the Interface will fight ."
Yes. Tarin's voice grows firm. You touch all crow Firmant first. We help. Then you touch Interface Firmant, and we fight together. When we beat, you absorb heart.
"Heart?" I ask. I can almost see Tarin grinning at .
Heart, he says. He's definitely enjoying my discomfort. I've changed my mind; I'm going back to calling him an old fart. You go now!
Tarin doesn't give much of a choice. The pitch-black Firmant that represents him suddenly gathers into a flickering mass, and dives into before I can do anything more than make a passing attempt to dodge it more out of reflex than anything. He surges into , Firmant pouring into my body, and I stagger backwards.
Now that Tarin's explained it, I can feel the phase-shift decaying. It's at the furthest edges of this ntal space, but there's a barely-perceivable shift, an odd sense of fraying at the edges.
I dash towards Mari, and brush my fingers against forest-green Firmant.
Trialgoer! Mari's voice is loud and demanding and full of worry; it strikes with full force how much she cares, for all that she hasn't known for that long. Here in the not-space of the phase-shift, I can feel that she thinks of in so way as who Naru could have been, and isn't that a painful thought. You phase-shift!
"I need your help," I say, because I don't know what else to say, at the force of emotion that cos with her voice.
Yes, Mari answers imdiately. I wonder how much she rembers, to trust this much. She shouldn't rember anything, and yet...
Maybe a small part of her Firmant rembers. Or maybe it's wishful thinking.
There's no need for talking, no need for negotiation. Her support flows into , and her Firmant gathers into a swirling mass of vibrant viridian energy that spins into the air and then wraps itself around protectively, then hardens into sothing harder than steel.
Armor. I test my movent, finding myself entirely unobstructed; my hand rings with a tallic ting when I strike my arm. The fraying for the phase-shift hasn't progressed much, but I suspect I'm going to need my ti when fighting the Interface so I move on quickly.
"Akar," I say. Her firmant is lilac-purple, and now that I'm closer, I can see that there's a roughness to it the harsh scars of soone who has seen more than they wanted. The Firmant itself is soft and gentle, but there's a hard exterior that's hard to break. "I need your help."
You phase-shift? Akar grumbles at through her Firmant. Lucky. Not even crow this lucky. Three crow to help! You know Mari? Mari had two!
"I'm sorry." I don't actually have anything to apologize for, but apologizing seems to aliorate her grumbling; I can practically feel her Firmant settling.
At least you polite, Akar tells . Mari not so polite. You know what she do? I not help her, she try to fight .
I... can imagine Mari doing that. "She's probably better about it now?"
Only because I win. Akar's satisfaction is a curling smirk through her Firmant. But she stronger than now. I help you, you tell her I kick her butt. Okay?
"...Sure?" I don't understand that request, but if that's all she wants...
Good. That seems to satisfy Akar. Her Firmant surges up, into the sky, and then rushes down towards like lightning. Unlike lightning, there's no sound or bright flash of light instead, it strikes one of the tallic gloves made of Mari's Firmant, and the two Firmants blend into a sky-blue gauntlet that goes all the way up to my elbow.
I stare at it for a mont, then glance at Ahkelios. "Is this what I've been relegated to?" I ask rhetorically. "The guy that punches things?"
"Oh, now you rember I exist." Ahkelios grumbles. "I feel like you're figuring that out a bit late."
He has a point. I don't mind that definition, exactly, as much as I'd love more of the magic that cos with Firmant skills.
But for now, I have sothing different to focus on.
Tarin's Firmant is churning inside . Mari's Firmant protects , and Akar's Firmant is a gauntlet of power on my hand. I stare at the final pillar of Firmant, so much larger than all the others a small fraction of the Interface itself and feel a strange calm settle within .
I am in the last monts of the phase-shift. It's now or never.
I step forward, and press a hand against that pillar of blue Firmant.
To say that the imnsity of what presses down on in that instant is overwhelming is to understate the sheer magnitude of what the Interface is. By all rights, it should have crushed like an insect the only reason it doesn't is because this fragnt of it is a small piece of the whole.
I try, for a mont, to understand. To use this mont to piece together what the Interface is, the reason for its existence.
All I glimpse is sothing incomprehensibly ancient before my own Firmant surges, as if in self-defense, and the connection is lost.
Before , the pillar of blue Firmant coalesces into a mockery of sothing humanoid. It's a network of blue filants more than it is a solid shape within the center is a pulsing blue heart, pumping Firmant through makeshift veins.
And that's all it is. A walking creature made of a network of veins of Firmant. It stares at for a mont, sothing in its gaze uncomfortable for all that it doesn't have eyes or a mouth
and then it rushes towards .
Crystallized Barrier. I try to call up the skill almost instinctively, but the Interface doesn't exist here, in the mindscape used for the phase-shift. I feel the filant-creature crash into , slamming backwards and causing to skid and roll across the white void of the floor; Mari's armor prevents most of the damage, but I grit my teeth.
I feel Tarin surging within , urging forward, giving speed. Black lightning arches out of my feet as I dash forward, ripping across phase-space to slam a gauntleted fist into the filant-creature. It crosses both arms in front of itself in an attempt to block, but there is a distinct crack, and it's blown backwards, skidding across the floor.
"Whoa," Ahkelios says, perched on my shoulder.
"You think that's impressive," I say. "Watch this."
Black lightning crackles through my gauntlet, and I allow myself a small smile.
I should be afraid, I think.
But I'm not.
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