A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Book 3: Chapter 5: A New Point of View

The Whispering Wastes, at least from the mouths of the more intrepid adventurers tell, has hidden depths beneath its shifting sands. They speak of a cavernous network of tunnels, bored out by the Guardians of the wastes and of rivers, not of water, but of sand that flows beneath the surface. They tell tales of people who have never seen the light of the Sahel, our glorious sun, who have made such a place their underground home. Others whisper of cannibalistic and backward troglodytes, far removed from our common ancestry, who prey on each other and the monsters that dwell beneath the surface. But all of them speak of the vast treasures of an ancient civilization and a gateway into the deeper darkness. A path to the mystical realm of the Everdark.

- The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 AC.

Hesitation, the source of all failure, leeched power and speed from my blow. My sword was slowed in the final fractions of a second before it was stopped by a layer of wood and metal that grew with sudden speed from the joints of my wrist and formed just above my arm. From near my wrist, an organic mix of wood flecked with dull metal burst forth tendrils that formed a shape. The shape of a small round shield.

Dumbstruck, I could only pause in shock as the edge of my blade cut into this new shield. Messages and notifications then floated across my vision, obstructing my view. Blocked, my sword had bitten deep into the strange wood, but not nearly enough to cut through it and sever my wrist. I had been completely protected from harm.

You have learned Monster Taming (lvl.1) Your Entropic Mimic has learned Adaptive Defense (lvl.1) Your Entropic Mimic has learned Shield Form (lvl.1)

There it was before me, the unnatural shape of my curse and my latest parasite. Had my humanity been taken from me, making me a monster, an unnatural and alien thing? I would grieve if I had any tears left in me, I thought to myself with a bitter mental laugh. The thing living inside me, was it a separate entity? Or I had become partially a monster? Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

I had envisioned that the invasion would be finished once the voices, as promised, had neutralized the Mimic’s influence. But, like all wars, the damage is still felt long after, as this unnatural growth was testament to. Was this supposed to be the Iasis’ gift, a shield made from my own flesh and blood? Then this should be a blessing, and not a curse. A giggle infused with the chaos of the moment escaped me, so overwhelmed I was at the ridiculousness of it all.

I scanned my Status, looking for any changes.

[STATUS] Calling: Gilgamesh lvl.12 Paladin/Reaver

Strength: 30

Dexterity: 26

Constitution: 42

Intelligence: 21

Wisdom: 22

Charisma: 14

Luck: 21

Entropic Mimic [Creature of Entropy - lvl.24]

Health: 462/474 Stamina: 58/60 Mana: 1/1 Adaptive Defense (lvl.1):

Shield Form (lvl.1)

SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES

Pain Nullification (lvl.3)

Power Strike (lvl.4) 10

Endure (lvl.4)

Stealth (lvl.1)

Rest (lvl.3)

Backstab (lvl.2)

Dodge (lvl.3)

Polearms (lvl.3)

Dual Wield (lvl.2)

Critical Hit Mastery (lvl.3)

Improved Unarmed Combat (lvl.1)

Hammers (lvl.4)

Flails (lvl.3)

Maces (lvl.3)

Shields (lvl.3)

Medium Armor (lvl.3)

Heavy Armor (lvl.5)

Axes (lvl.2)

Daggers (lvl.4)

Throwing Weapons (lvl.2)

Double Throw (lvl.1) 5

Shield Bash (lvl.2) 10

Riding (lvl.2)

Dash (lvl.1)

Swords (lvl.3)

Crossbows (lvl.4)

Blind-Fighting (lvl.1)

Rush Strike (lvl.1)

Tracking (lvl.1)

Trap Detection (lvl.1)

Frenzied Strikes (lvl.1) 30

Monster Taming (lvl.1)

SPELLS & MAGIC

Heal (lvl.5) 5

Rust (lvl.4) 2

Identify (lvl.3) 1

Silent Casting (lvl.2)

Mana Regeneration (lvl.2)

Purify (lvl.2) 3

Greater Heal (lvl.2) 10

Holy Aura (lvl.3) 2

Decay (lvl.1) 1

Drain (lvl.5) 2

Entropic Aura (lvl.3) 2

Inferno Bolts (lvl.1) 2

GIFTS

Curse of Entropy: -20% to all starting attributes.

Mark of the Paladin: 10% resistance to Dark/Holy magic. 5% resistance to Physical.

Touch of the Void: 10% reduced resistance to Holy/Fire magic, 20% resistance to Mental Effects, 15% immunity to Mental Effects.

Mark of the Adaptive Helix: 5% resistance to Physical, Minor Regeneration

Experience to next level 812/891

Health256/342 Stamina8/70 Mana10/14

There it was, a new entry on my Status, the list and record of my progress and accomplishments. The Entropic Mimic, with all its own mini status within my own. For an irrational moment, jealousy pulsed hot. This creature had taken up precious space in my already cluttered ‘character sheet’.

I took a deep breath, shaken by my almost-self-dismemberment. The will I had worked up to cut off a part of my limb had left me, and the crazy part of me finally stopped giggling. The rational part of my mind was slowly taking over, searching within for any last remnants of my invader. Finding nothing, not that I would know what I was looking for anyway, I began to think more and more logically, and cold reason took the helm. Like appreciating a pointillist painting, I needed to take a step back and appreciate the whole.

Forcing myself to continue, I plodded on in the darkness with the clank of my armor punctuating my steps. I needed to keep moving. My companions were waiting for me.

Despite her annoying prattle, and putting aside the whole almost dying part, I had come out of the exchange quite well. Playing one god's ire against the other had worked, giving me yet another source of power to work with. I read over the additions again, trying to work out a few answers for myself.

First, there was my new skill. Being bonded so closely, at the very much physical level, and perhaps psychic level, had even given me the Monster Taming skill. I had sampled the monster’s life across our mental link and had drunk deep of its memories. For a time its struggles were mine, its hunger was mine. It had felt that I truly was the Mimic.

Apart from the feeling of disgust that still lingered, this opened up a whole plethora of new possibilities, provided I survived long enough to make use of the new skill. Or survived its use.

My new ‘pet’, for lack of a better word, had its own Status displayed within my own. True to form, this world decided that it would be unsporting to give me more detailed information. All the information I had on my new passenger was its Health, Stamina, and Mana, alongside its new skills Adaptive Defense and Shield Form. Its Shield Form skill was rather self-explanatory, and I had an inkling that the Adaptive Defense had something to do with it suddenly forming a shield in reaction to my attempt at self harm. The name of my new passenger itself was puzzling, Entropic Mimic. Was it just a simple Mimic before it met me, and upon bonding, had been changed somehow? What did the prefix ‘Entropic’ mean for it? What did it mean for me?

More worrying than the name was that, at four hundred and seventy-four, the Mimic’s health dwarfed my own. Was that because it was at a much higher level than me, having lived in an environment filled with constant conflict before its ennui and its encounter with Iasis? Or was it, like the Xaruar, simply because it had a ridiculous Constitution attribute. Most likely, a mixture of both.

I vaguely recalled that the monster, before we had completely bonded, had wanted to make itself useful. It had latched onto my recent memories of the loss of my shield. Perhaps, that was the reason it had received that skill? Also, if it had acquired the Shield Form skill, then it stood to reason that there would be other forms and shapes it could learn in the future.

The Entropic Mimic had only a single point of Mana. I concluded that this was due to it no longer having a consciousness or true will of its own, having been completely suborned by my own. Though I was reluctant to be a host to a parasite, I would use the tools that were given to me. I would be a fool if I didn't use everything in my power to survive in this world, even if I did not fully understand the ramifications of doing so.

From my experience, the gods of this world were rather backhanded in their blessings, after all. The voices, my other passengers, agreed with this assessment. It was yet more fuel to add to the growing pyre of hate, the only emotion that I reserved for false gods of this world. Yes, for false gods they were, and from my experience, far from perfect beings and most definitely not worthy of respect. Still, however they were powerful…

For all of this, I could not feel its physical presence within me, either. My limb, for all intents and purposes, felt just like an ordinary arm. I moved it experimentally, testing its range. Yes, apart from the new growth, nothing odd. I willed it back, and felt nothing. Next, I tried imagining my arm and wrist as they used to be, willing it to be so. It felt like learning how to walk for the first time, a clumsy thing, but slowly the new growth receded, disappearing back into my flesh through the gaps of my armor. How convenient, I thought to myself in a moment of black humor. At least now, I would not need to go shopping for a shield ever again.

This new symbiosis was very much one-sided, in my favor. The mimic was effectively dead, its monstrous nature now joined to mine. Or was it simply dormant, and this was its way of making me let down my guard, before it consumed me in my sleep? An existential dread threatened to overwhelm me before the voices soothed it away. The legion within me had done their job, or so they had assured. The choir protected its own against any and all.

As I was thinking these thoughts, I saw my Health, along with the Mimic’s, go up a tick. That must be due to the Minor Regeneration effect from the Mark of the Adaptive Helix, the new entry in my character sheet. Though perhaps of little use in a confrontation settled in a manner of seconds, its effects outside of combat were already making themselves known.

What were the biological implications of all this? Was there even one? Wasps had been gifted their stings by an ancient virus, incorporating the alien presence within their very being, across the generations. My symbiosis, was it to be a similar story? Would my future prodigy, if any, be cursed, or blessed, similarly? What was the term for it… mutualism, or commensalism? The scraps of knowledge of my old world, of my old life, had grown distant.

Questions within questions, within questions, spiraling pointlessly within my mind. I would have to set aside such things and concentrate more fully on what lay ahead. There was still the option of excising the thing at a later time, if it proved problematic. However, I doubted that I had it within me to actually do the deed. Still, perhaps one of my companions could do it for me.

Fearful of drawing the ire and attention of the goddess, I was leery of using my Holy Aura so close to a place sacred to her. With no torch to light the way, the path I was on darkened considerably, rendering my vision near useless, the ambient light now nothing more than a patchy feeble glow. The purple veins of glowing mineral that threaded through the walls now illuminated next to nothing and simply emphasized the ominous air and heavy darkness of this place. Disoriented, I trailed a hand along the left wall, shuffling forward with slow, tentative steps. In this manner, I proceeded a good while, despite a pall of claustrophobia threatening to overwhelm me in the suffocating gloom.

Now, hopefully a good distance from the goddess, I channeled my Holy Aura to throw off the dark and to top off the last of my Health. It was bright, too bright, for eyes that had grown accustomed to the dim. Down before me, beyond the circle of my light, I heard the slither and clacking sound of something approaching.

Empowered by the spell and my divine gifts, thoughts of flight were a distant thing for one such as I, who had been chosen by one of the greater powers of the universe. Being close to level thirteen, I needed the experience, and welcomed conflict. Whoever, or whatever, it was, mattered not to me. I would not flee, come what may.

What had the goddess said about going down the left? Who cared, I would deal with this thing first and then backtrack later. I drew my sword with a new and fierce determination… and this time summoned my new shield.

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