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Posted

I dash after Quinn, just barely keeping him in sight through all the activity. I think I'm going to be doing a lot of running while I work here. Joy.

Tori's words spark a thought. You can isolate weapons from Formspheres? by breaking them? I wonder if I could reverse-engineer that, turning weapons into Formspheres... Would probably take a lot of work... Maybe take parts from monsters, only not the standard stuff. I could take that tigerplane I faced before all this insanity started and isolate its transforming capability...

Distracted, I bump into multiple apprentices as I dash after Quinn. "Sorry. Sorry. Oh, so sorry." Blast. I've lost him. I slow my mad dash and turn to one of the apprentices near me. They really are everywhere. "Excuse me, which way to the Spherebreaker?"

Posted

Eerongal

The beast is tall, at least ten feet, and not in a skinny way, closer to a rock giant than a bonetree.

It's a massive teddy bear. Stuffing, stitching, the whole thing. But it's built like a tank and literally on fire. Your cold strike hits it in the knee, the impact itself having next to no effect, the icy energy putting on the flames in that area and laying down a thin film of frost which quickly melts. Your momentum is gone, rendering your roll more of a pathetic tumble. You come up on your feet, since the force of impact was absorbed by the monster as opposed to bouncing back into you, which would leave you a shaking mess, but you've put no real distance between yourself and "Tibbers".

It doesn't even notice your attack, throwing aside your scorched pauldrons and burning cape, and roaring his fury.

"Get 'em, Tibbers!" shouts the little girl, waving an exultant finger in your direction, the fires of her pet seeming to radiate from her eyes.

The creature doesn't hesitate, charging at you with a steady gait.

Acting quickly, i charge offensively at the beast. At the last moment, i turn my charge into a diving roll between the monster's awkward arched teddy bear stance. As i roll through, i smell the telltale stink of singed hairs.

Hopping up quickly, I make sure to pat down the top of my head, lest any embers from the smoldering decide to light.

Immediately after hopping up, I move into a quick sprint to put distance between me and the thing.

I may not be able to damage you, but perhaps I can goad you into doing what I want.

Turning to face the creature, I ready myself in a defensive stance.

Ok, the thing certainly seems quite offensive. If I keep moving and toying with it, perhaps I can get it to fall off one of these edges. Judging by the beast's size, any missed swings should greatly put it off balance. I'll just keep playing cat an mouse with it until I can position myself in such a way to get it to teeter on the very edge of the platform. I don't know what's down there, but it's certainly better for me if the chasm's contents include this monstrosity.

Taking a deep breath, I begin concentrating on the monster's every move.

Posted (edited)

Jay'el

The forgehands, some annoyed by your interruption, others tolerant due to your obvious unfamiliarity, point you in the right direction, where you can barely see Quinn standing. He waves at you, a smug grin on his boyish face.

You make your way over and take a look at the machinery behind him. It looks like a cross between a computer and a blacksmithing forge with magic scattered throughout.

"This is the Spherebreaker," Quinn explains, "We use it to break Formspheres into their basic pieces, which are items or abilities used in the Form." He picks up a small shard of crystal, which you recognize as a piece of a Formsphere. "This is a Form Fragment. It contains the essence of a part of a Form, specifically, the Sniper Rifle associated with an Infiltrator. This is a particularly good break, because it is an isolated piece of equipment, separated from the expertise needed to use it, which is-" he picks up another piece "-here. Questions so far?"

Eerongal

The monster is easily baited, but has a wider reach than you expected. There are several close calls in your implementation of strategy, leaving moderate burns on your side, leg, and shoulder, which is particularly painful. But in the end your maneuvering works, leaving the monster teetering on the edge of the chasm.

You move in to finish it off.

"Hey!"

The little girl scrambles into your vision, placing herself between you and the bear, hands on the hips of her red, girlish dress.

"Leave Tibbers alone!"

A brief flare of fiery energy pulses around her hands before she throws a pair of fireballs at your face.

Edited by Silus - Shard of Flame
Posted

Like you wouldn't believe. "Nothing about the process, yet, but what are the Form Fragments used for?"

Can you put them back together? That would make an entirely new Formsphere... Are these Fragments how we add Grid abilities? Can these be turned into items or abilities for non-Spheremorphs? So many other questions...

Posted

Jay'el

"In their raw state, very little, but with the right refinements, you can do a lot. Grid components, entirely new Formspheres, you name it. You just have to have the right tech for the job.

"Which we happen to have. But we'll get to that later." He waves you over to stand in front of the machine. "This is the Spherebreaker. Take this headset-" he shoves a helmet on your head, which covers your eyes "-and these gloves-" your fingers are bent the wrong way as a pair of thick, heavy gloves are shoved over them "-and then we flick this switch."

You hear a small click, and a bright light fills your vision. Now you can see...sort of. You see a digital representation of the Spherebreaker on a screen in front of your eyes. Looking around, you see the Form Fragment that Quinn set down. A readout appears, showing you the statistics of the item.

Sniper Skill

Gives the user skill with long range rifles.

A list of numbers and labels appears, showing you various minutia of the ability. But you don't understand most of it.

"Now this is the tricky part."

Posted

That... is a whole lot of numbers. I adjust the gloves so my fingers aren't quite so strained and look for the switch Quinn flipped while my vision was dark, noting its position on the Spherebreaker. Yeah, definitely putting this all on in a different order on my own.

"Will you teach me what all this data means, eventually?"

I wonder how Ambro's fight is going... Focus, Jay. You're learning something important here.

Posted

"Eventually you'll get a feel for it. Each one is actually really minute by itself. You'll start to see patterns when it comes to quality. But those will help you a lot with learning about the inner workings of the Spheres, but we're not going into that right now. We're going over more macro stuff here.

"I know you can't see me, but I'm putting on a helmet to see what you do, so I can mark things and show you how it works. The first thing to do here is to get the Formsphere you're going to be working with. I've got a pair of Soldier Spheres here, if you do this really, really well, we'll get all we'll need out of these. I go can back in later and fix it if you screw up, though. Odds are you will, but it's okay."

A yellow aura, stark against the mostly blue and black of the rest of the screen, appears around a Sphere, which you can see as being in Quinn's hand. There's a ton more data associated with a full Sphere than with the Fragment.

"Pick it up, then grab this." Another yellow aura appears around what looks to be a weld like device on an arm attached to the upper part of the station.

"We'll go over this step by step."

Posted (edited)

Ambrosius

Ambro nods at the information.

It seems someone did my work for me. tech-based, with low magic.

Unfortunately, I lack the formspheres to adjust my strategy.

I have a few words to say to my ancestor about picking formspheres to steal when I die.

Ambro looks to his opponent, who had just entered on the other side of the arena.

Alright. Use Atium to anticipate her opening move. Depending on circumstances, move in or wait for an opening.

Close up, I have three choices. Stake to the chest, glass powder/shards to the face, or shockstick anywhere.

If she charges, use the tripping maneuver. If she interferes with Atium, switch forms.

If she does anything else, apply plan G.

That should be enough planning for now. He who plans for the cliff ahead, trips on the root underfoot.

Ambro stands relaxed, waiting for the match to start.

"Ready!"

The two of you start to shift into your Forms, light flooding the arena, contrasting with the blue glow of the glyphs all around.

"Set!"

The lights start to fade. But something seems...off; not what you expected.

"GO!"

A roar of flames whooshes through the air. Veronica's skin is covered in fire, trailing away from her skin like bright red Stormlight. She charges at you, heat billowing around her, her hands blossoming with fiery energy. Burning Atium, you see shadowy flames erupting from her hands in what looks like a concussive blast.

River:

Well, this match is certainly interesting. Still, I wish Eerongal would shift. It would be nice to get an idea of what his other forms can do. Keeping my eye on the fight, I decide to take matters into my own hands, and approach Piscun's balcony.

"I understand if you don't want to be disturbed, but I thought you might like some company. It must get lonely, playing the referee by yourself. Here goes nothing...

He seems engrossed in the match, but spares you a comment. "I suppose, but it's not that different from how I used to live. No, that's not quite right. It's very different from how I used to live, but the loneliness...that's about the same."

Edited by Silus - Shard of Flame
Posted

Ambrosius

That is NOT tech-based!

Ambro's atium-reflexes pull him out of the way, easily clearing the concussive blast. Despite easily dodging, Ambro feels the heat. The blast hits something behind Ambro causing the Glyphs to glow brighter briefly.

That could have hurt. Huh? What are these symbols?

The Atium shadows reveal another blast being prepared.

Okay I will move in under the blast, then, timing my throw to when she breathes in, I will release the glass shards and sand. That should get me and opening to stab with the stake.

The flames billow and Ambro moves in.

Posted

Eerongal

The monster is easily baited, but has a wider reach than you expected. There are several close calls in your implementation of strategy, leaving moderate burns on your side, leg, and shoulder, which is particularly painful. But in the end your maneuvering works, leaving the monster teetering on the edge of the chasm.

You move in to finish it off.

"Hey!"

The little girl scrambles into your vision, placing herself between you and the bear, hands on the hips of her red, girlish dress.

"Leave Tibbers alone!"

A brief flare of fiery energy pulses around her hands before she throws a pair of fireballs at your face.

Immediately halting my attack, I throw my arms up to block my face

damnation, no time to dodge....This is going to hurt.....

Acting quickly, i charge my hammer up with a cold strike

This should at least take the sting out of it....

Shortly there after, i feel the intense sting of heated metal grow on my arms, and smell the acrid scent of burning flesh. As the last of the flames lick past and singe some of my hair, I immediately leap forward yelling aggressively and swing with all my might, my target now swapped to the young child on the wrong side of the monster, the side closer to me.

Posted (edited)

"Eventually you'll get a feel for it. Each one is actually really minute by itself. You'll start to see patterns when it comes to quality. But those will help you a lot with learning about the inner workings of the Spheres, but we're not going into that right now. We're going over more macro stuff here.

"I know you can't see me, but I'm putting on a helmet to see what you do, so I can mark things and show you how it works. The first thing to do here is to get the Formsphere you're going to be working with. I've got a pair of Soldier Spheres here, if you do this really, really well, we'll get all we'll need out of these. I go can back in later and fix it if you screw up, though. Odds are you will, but it's okay."

A yellow aura, stark against the mostly blue and black of the rest of the screen, appears around a Sphere, which you can see as being in Quinn's hand. There's a ton more data associated with a full Sphere than with the Fragment.

"Pick it up, then grab this." Another yellow aura appears around what looks to be a weld like device on an arm attached to the upper part of the station.

"We'll go over this step by step."

I follow Quinn's instructions as I ask him, "How did you create that yellow aura? It seems rather useful, especially if I can mark things out of my sight with it."

He doubts my ability, and rightly so right now, but I'd rather fix my own mistakes. That way I can learn what I did wrong and not do it again. How are we getting ten isolated weapons from Forms that only have four each? Unless grenades and omni-tools count...

Edited by Silus - Shard of Flame
Posted (edited)

Ambrosius

That is NOT tech-based!

Ambro's atium-reflexes pull him out of the way, easily clearing the concussive blast. Despite easily dodging, Ambro feels the heat. The blast hits something behind Ambro causing the Glyphs to glow brighter briefly.

That could have hurt. Huh? What are these symbols?

The Atium shadows reveal another blast being prepared.

Okay I will move in under the blast, then, timing my throw to when she breathes in, I will release the glass shards and sand. That should get me and opening to stab with the stake.

The flames billow and Ambro moves in.

Atium allows you to move with perfect precision, and while the heat is scalding, you manage your glass dust trick. Her fires flare as she sputters and coughs, she seems in more pain than you would expect. You go in with the stake, but she lashes out, forcing you back even with Atium. Your stake is set alight from the raw heat around you.

Immediately halting my attack, I throw my arms up to block my face

damnation, no time to dodge....This is going to hurt.....

Acting quickly, i charge my hammer up with a cold strike

This should at least take the sting out of it....

Shortly there after, i feel the intense sting of heated metal grow on my arms, and smell the acrid scent of burning flesh. As the last of the flames lick past and singe some of my hair, I immediately leap forward yelling aggressively and swing with all my might, my target now swapped to the young child on the wrong side of the monster, the side closer to me.

Your hammer isn't much of a block, but the cold aura given off is enough to keep off the worst of the heat. You can feel your skin burn like you've been out in the sun too long, and while the pain is distracting, it's not enough to stop your charge.

A roar from you behind you announces the return of Tibbers into the fight, but you're too close to your target to be stopped. She shrieks and throws up her hands. Just before you hit a bubble of fire forms around her. Your hammer moves through it, landing a solid hit on the girl, but the fires sear your arms again; you can feel that this time it's worse than a sunburn. Your clothes are on fire and you can hear the enraged bellow of a charging bear.

I follow Quinn's instructions as I ask him, "How did you create that yellow aura? It seems rather useful, especially if I can mark things out of my sight with it."

He doubts my ability, and rightly so right now, but I'd rather fix my own mistakes. That way I can learn what I did wrong and not do it again. How are we getting ten isolated weapons from Forms that only have four each? Unless grenades and omni-tools count...

"The aura is a function of the training headset I'm using. Once you get used to it, these are things you'll be picking out on your own. Here we go."

He walks you through the incredibly detailed process of working with the Spherebreaker. Shows you how the codes represent microscopic, fibrous bindings within the Sphere, attachments that are a strange hybrid of magic and tech. You learn to see the framework of abilities bound within those codes and the bindings that link them together. The raw complexity of it is astounding. While you learn a lot, the details remain elusive; you can only make out the broad strokes of the coding - like the division between equipment and abilities - and only with help at that.

"Now we start with an incision," he says after what must be a good half hour of intricate explanations. This is going to be a long day.

Edited by Silus - Shard of Flame
Posted (edited)

Ambrosius

Pain? Pain is good. Hopefully, I shoved enough sand down her throat to damage her lungs.

Chucking the, now flaming, stake at her face, Ambro shifts to Melodic Bladesinger.

Pain is the only option here. Damnation is to risky, and silence only really helps with mages and assassinations.

Drawing Pain, Ambro charges, confident in the fire resistant properties of his silk armor.

I just need to make a scratch. Just one to activate Pain's effect.

Edited by Emeralis00
Posted (edited)

She fries the stake just by looking at it, and her attention is back on the fight. She looks mad.

"Fighting dirty. Really all I can expect from a dirty thiefskin!" A blast of fiery power shoots from her hands in a beam, but your speed and momentum are enough to get mostly out of the way, your armor making up the difference. It stings.

"I thought maybe you could be different, since you obviously know Jay, and he seems like a good kid." A wave of the hands creates a delayed explosion just in front of you, but you manage a quick stop, though one of your cloth strips catches fire. "He's naive, a little too trusting for his own good. He's just some kind of con to you, right?"

The explosion has you stopped in your tracks, and you're not quick enough to get across the line that appears on the ground before a wall of fire twenty feet long appears there, separating you from her. Your armor may have fire resistance, but it's not enough to just run through this.

"That's all your kind are, an infection." She goes through some hand gestures, creating symbols out of fire in front of her, and a summoner's circle made of lines of flame burns itself into the ground around her. "And how do you stop infection?"

Edited by Silus - Shard of Flame
Posted

"Alright, where do I start cutting, how deep, and at what angle?" My brain feels like mush. So much information... I'll retain it more and more as I use it. Focus on getting these breaks right, Jay'el. Study the rest of it later, when you have a moment to think. Probably right before bed.

I grip the cutting tool like it's a sword, unsure of how to use it. With all the information Quinn just dumped on me, I'm a little nervous and my hand shakes minutely.

Posted (edited)

Ambrosius

Ambro cuts the burning cloth away, then draws Damnation.

The dual-weilded knives begin to vibrate and hum, audible only to Ambro.

I would have preferred not to use this, but I learned an interesting little trick for this kind of situation and I need to do as much damage as possible. The human mind may be intelligent, but it's reflexes still can be manipulated. when you throw something at someone who is just about to attack, they can't dodge.

Timing it to the moment when the the symbols flare, Ambro throws both daggers.

As he throws Ambro turns and runs, jumping hard as he comes to the edge of the arena.

The force of his jump makes an arc as he hits the glyph wall kicking hard with both feet.

If I'm right the rebound force should launch me over the fire wall.

I hope I'm right.

(OoC: the trick Ambro is talking about really works. I use it all the time when playing dodgeball. It never fails.)

Edited by Emeralis00
Posted

You clear the fire wall, a shout of pain coming from Victoria. You land hard, rolling, and look up to see her ahead of you. She doesn't bleed, but that's not what Damnation is for. Black smoke curls up from her arm, mingling with the flames yet distinct. She holds it protectively to the side, grimacing at you.

She grins.

A massive weight hits you from the side, throwing you almost to the other side of the arena. Thankfully, the wall has dissipated. Then you are hit with a searing pain. You aren't just bruised by the hit, but whatever it was has left a burn with its touch. You look up, and see what it is that hit you.

A huge, black scaled snake, at least thirty feet long and three feet thick. It has a ridge along the back of its head, giving its face a dragonish look. The air around it is distorted by heat, and steam billows from its nostrils. Its eyes are black and pitiless. A heat serpent.

Posted

Ambrosius

"Oh my." The comment is flat and monotone. Ambro feels Damnation too.

Sh isn't pulling it out though, and the effect spreads. Now I need to wait for it to hit her heart and hope my healing factor can hold out long enough.

Drawing Pain, it had reappeared in its sheath, and an ordinary long knife Ambro rolls out of the way. The snake strikes the location he had just left. Too bad the other three knives are ordinary, Acid would be really nice right about now.

Ambro leaps forward and to the left, throwing Pain at the snake while trying to throw the ordinary knife at the woman from his Damned arm.

With a rolling tumble Ambro turns and draws another ordinary knife and Silence.

Posted

The snake is fast, wicked fast. Just throwing the knife simply won't be enough, as it dodges out the way with barely a thought. It slides between you and Victoria almost casually. You can see behind it as Victoria, having gathered her strength, wrenches out the knife with a yell. The serpent bats the normal knife from the air without bothering to look.

"Attack!"

The beast opens its mouth and shoots a blast of super heated steam at you.

Posted (edited)

Ambro tries to dodge, but ends up taking a hit on the side. All across Ambro's side, his skin is reddened and bubbled and the armor is in tatters.

This form is now useless. I really didn't want to use the next form, its no fun.

Ambro shifts, the knives and silk disappear, and a red bird-like sigil appears in his left eye. The Geass form.

Ambro looks into the eyes of the snake, just about to strike.

Ambro smiles and speaks, "Attack the woman, then die."

Edited by Emeralis00
Posted

A flash of red appears in the beast's eye. It turns and dives at its master.

You hear a shouted curse followed by an obvious spellword. The monster vanishes in a flash of fire and steam.

"A Geass? Fine. I suppose it's time for a change." She starts to change Forms, emerging into a blue figure covered in armor, wearing a mask. She carries a long spear in one hand a large shield in the other with some kind of circular design built into it. She twists something on the side of her mask and a tinted visor comes down behind her eye holes. "For just such an occasion. Your move, thiefskin."

Posted

Your hammer isn't much of a block, but the cold aura given off is enough to keep off the worst of the heat. You can feel your skin burn like you've been out in the sun too long, and while the pain is distracting, it's not enough to stop your charge.

A roar from you behind you announces the return of Tibbers into the fight, but you're too close to your target to be stopped. She shrieks and throws up her hands. Just before you hit a bubble of fire forms around her. Your hammer moves through it, landing a solid hit on the girl, but the fires sear your arms again; you can feel that this time it's worse than a sunburn. Your clothes are on fire and you can hear the enraged bellow of a charging bear.

Gotta get out of the way!

Immediately after the strike, I leap to the left, and fall prone, and begin to roll further away

That should take care of the flames!

Leaping up, I check myself to make sure nothing is still alight, and then fighting through the pain of seared flesh, i ready my weapon.

Ok, 'Tibbers', I don't know how sentient you are, but you're obviously angry, and that will make you further reckless. All I need to do is keep baiting you until I can work myself between you and the girl, and then I can strike down hard, and that should bring this match home.

With that in mind, I quickly make a check of both the girl's and the beast's current location and status, and begin to charge cold energy into my hammer once again.

Posted (edited)

Ambrosius

I hate masks! They're so inconvenient!

Ambro shifts back to atium.

and I supremely hate repeating tricks!

"Quam praesumo vos! Spero ut pulex of mille elk sileo in vestri genitor! Partis quod cruor quod cinis cineris! Exuro vos!"

Ambro begins yelling in another language.

Charging forward while burning atium, Ambro draws the shockstick.

Lets see if the armor is electric resistant.

Edited by Emeralis00
Posted

Eerongal

Keeping the cold charge in your hammer takes a measure of concentration, making you less nimble than you need to be to keep up the game of cat and mouse (or bear and person) that you have going with Tibbers. Your tactician's mind makes it easier, though, allowing you to make your movements precise and better able to predict the beast's. It really isn't that smart, but it is protective. Once it sees you near where Darla has fallen it goes into an even greater rage.

The speed of its charge is nothing like you've seen before from it. But your hammer falls swift and sure, and the light of transition disperses the bear's claws inches away from tearing into your face. Your eyebrows are singed.

You look around, and see that Darla is back to her proper stature, now unconscious. The crowd cheers for you, and Piscun announces your triumph. You barely pay attention, checking over your wounds; enough burns to cook a pig, it looks like. You slump out of the arena.

Ambrosius

A massive atium shadow comes into your vision from the left, like a wave in front of you. You dive backwards just before an enormous wall of water, diverted from the waterfall, crashes into the arena just ahead of you. Another shadow passes through you at high speed, and you barely dodge a blast of blue energy that shoots at you through the water.

The water collapses to the ground, allowing you to pass through. Victoria still stands there, waiting for you with her shield and spear, the shield radiating the remnants of a blast of energy. Your atium allows you to dodge a swing from the spear and get around the shield defense, stabbing the shock dagger into her back.

She screams as the electricity rips through her metallic body and the water on the ground surges around her, throwing you away. She staggers around, holding her head, water moving around her erratically, even though the electricity has run its course. She sinks to her knees, screaming. You can hear a few phrases through the shrieks.

"The stone is false and always has been! A shelter for the immortal who holds the horrid secret that damns us all! Beware the eye: the eye that stares into the void and, unblinking, unfliching, feeds on its power!"

A final screech of agony, and she falls in a blaze of light, hitting the ground in her baseline, unconscious.

The crowd is stunned for a few moments, then erupts into cheers.

"And the winner is Ambrosius!"

The bridge extends. Greg and Burly rush across to lift up their friend. You leave the arena. It was a good fight and a good victory, but something about it feels...off.

Posted

River:

I turn my attention back to the match, now that is obvious Piscun does not want to be bothered. Overall, Eerongal impresses me, though I think I could have done better. He wasted too much time with the bear I think, He should have gone after the girl immediately. His hesitation to kill a child-like form nearly cost him the match.

I am more than a little miffed that he managed to end the fight without shifting. I was looking forward to seeing what some of his other forms could do.

No that Piscun has declared the match over, I take my chance to speak with him. His comments about loneliness surprise me, as I hadn't expected him to be so candid. "Sorry about earlier," I say. "I should have seen you were busy. I also didn't mean to pry into your personal life. My question was meant to be about this match specifically. I was merely offering to keep you company, if you wished for it."

I pause, thinking out my next move carefully. I can't afford to mess things up, and I know it. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here, in your current position?"

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