Technomagica 61. Titanthorax (Patreon)

Days flew by as Delta and I focused on our research of breaking Vows and rebuilding the Alanian tower with the aid of the Friendship-bound Kliss.

The Overseer stayed by our side and while it was nice to have a pair of helping hands, she also behaved akin to a perpetually happy automaton. I hated myself for being too slow, feeling that I was contributing to the suffering of real Kliss who was most likely locked away somewhere deep inside of her own mind. I couldn't even nip the Vow off her temporarily as it would damage her extremely mangled soul.

Thus, I began to design a Vow-Breaker crystal rune using disruption and shield spells which I extrapolated out of Kliss’ armacus, by making her fire various spells into the air repeatedly to study the hexagrams and their effects. Basically, the Vow-Breaker would not kill nor permanently destroy a Vow, but it would be able to temporarily disrupt its phantom-like structure and interrupt its control over a human body, blocking its control threads out of the human brain akin to hex-lanterns pushing phantoms away. I also studied the Charisma-disrupting of my little Mesmerbane Fox to understand mind-control repelling shields better.

Kliss begged me to tell her more about my mathematics, which I did. I slowly taught her Earth numbers. I wasn’t worried that Frenny or Phantom Sasha could arrive or even understand fractal math because the high school math and chemistry that I was slowly teaching Kliss was incredibly distant from computing fractals.

I simply avoided teaching her anything that had to do with complex geometry, trigonometry or probability theory. I was backed by the knowledge that every child in USSR knew this sort of basic math, but only a few innovators like myself and Dr. Mandelbrot could actually design fractals on computers or even understood what fractals were in 1992.

Kliss, Delta and I also went around Skyisle, visiting every home as an “inspection”.

I made Kliss declare me and Delta as her “assistant”, which didn’t make me a friend of the villagers.

It didn’t matter that much if some Skyisle adults saw me as a nuisance or a traitor. Delta and I planned on raising a new generation of Skyisle children, ones who would unlock their system as young as seven years of age. Using the “inspection” as a tactic to gain access to the houses, we made Kliss dig seven charged batteries out from under various people's houses, transitioning them to the Alanian tower.

I was stockpiling batteries to start making artificer tools that would allow me to make other even more complex tools.

Also, with each "inspection", I was mentally building a perfect three-dimensional diagram of a fully functioning Alanian Astral Engine. My goal was to eventually repair and link every obelisk in the village to the large obelisks beneath the Church of Equality and the Alanian tower.

Delta and I had also discussed the issue of radioactivity leaking from the Valley of Death and had arrived at the conclusion that everyone - people, animals and plants alike, everything living within Skyisle had incrementally built up an immunity to the magogenic fault over the thousand years. Everyone’s souls were spending exuberant amounts of energy to stop bodies from mutating horribly, burning through whatever “experience” was to stay alive.

Comparing the soul and body of a typical Skyisle inhabitant to Kliss allowed me to formulate another interesting evolutionary hypothesis. There was a reason why the Overseer’s body and soul was decaying so much. The proximity of life to the magogenic fault was a curse and a blessing creating cellular degeneration but also making new cells that were more resistant to magic.

This discovery reminded me of the 1960 science fiction novel Deathworld by American writer Harry Harrison which had been translated into Russian and became very popular in USSR.

"Deathworld" novel featured a planet where every form of life, from the vegetation to the animals, has evolved into the deadliest versions of themselves, in response to the harsh environmental conditions. The people who lived there carried the same trait, they were far stronger, faster, and more durable than mundane humans. Their bodies had adapted to survive in a world that was constantly trying to kill them.

I saw a similar parallel in the people and animals of Skyisle. Everything that was born near the Valley of Death was more immune to magrad compared to Kliss. My cells were slightly different than hers, had natural defenses against the magogenic fault. It was a testament to the resilience of life, which always found a way to adapt and survive.

The proximity to the fault, made the local species far more magical, produced unique creatures all around the Valley of Death.

Unfortunately, the local conditions were getting worse - whatever was happening in the ruins of the Tricameron Citadel was spilling out more radiation and poisons than ever. Maybe there was a damaged reactor there that nobody could cover up or stop since there were no skilled Alanians left alive after the Great Mage War.

I had interviewed Kliss thoroughly and discovered that her skills had decayed severely. She was left with [Mana-Sword], [Reinforced muscles], [Long Ear], [Ranger], [Soul-Shield] and [Astral-Sense] all currently below LV 20 and deep in the minuses, out of over twenty skills that she had once possessed!

The Vow didn’t seem to care and didn't lament one bit about the skill loss of its host.

Whenever we sent Kliss out to chop firewood or to hunt, we sang to the Alanian beacon and sacrificed insect souls to it. Delta’s bees were particularly good at hunting other small bugs and the Hex-Beacon sucked various bugs completely dry, devouring their soul and mana, turning the little bugs into ashes upon contact.

I also thoroughly scanned Delta’s Chrysalis and Soul-Hunter skill, so that I could help her eventually re-design it and make it stronger. I wanted her to take control of more than a single bee colony, maximizing herself a lot further. I was somewhat concerned that this would make her more similar to Phantom Sasha and her children, but at the same time we needed to grow in power to face the coming future.

“I found an ant colony nearby that you can take over next,” I said.

“An ant? Ants can’t fly,” she mulled. “I’d rather get another bee colony!”

“First of all, ants can fly,” I said.

"Oh, I guess I forgot," Delta shrugged. “I don’t have all of your memories.”

"Certain ants have wings, especially the queens and the males during the mating season," I pointed out, “And second, ants are incredibly organized, resourceful and most of all… strong! A mundane Ant from Earth can lift 10 - 50 times their body weight.”

“How?” My twin asked.

"It's all about their size," I explained. "The neck joint of a common field ant can withstand pressures up to 5,000 times the ant’s weight. Ants are incredibly small, and because of that, their muscles have a greater cross-sectional area relative to their body size than those of larger creatures. This means that they can produce more force pound for pound."

"I guess... but bees are cuter!" Delta pointed out.

I laughed at that. "Well, you're not wrong. But remember, we're not choosing mere pets here. This is about survival. We need all the help we can get. Thanks for taking care of Mesmy for me, while I was out, by the way.”

“No problem, she’s adorable,” Delta said "Soooo… What kind of local ants are we talking about? They’re magical, right?”

“My Infoscope identified them as [Titanthorax-Ants],” I said.

“Meaning what?”

“They’re specialized in [Strength],” I said.

"Oh? So they can lift more?"

"Yes, but they're also good builders," I said. "We can use them to help rebuild the tower!"

"Neat," Delta nodded.

"Also, ants have an incredible ability to connect with each other," I explained, "They can form structures with their bodies, like bridges and rafts. We could harness this innate ability to create... more complex, moving structures or even 'people' made entirely of ants."

"Wait, 'people' made of ants?" Delta looked at me in disbelief.

"Yes, 'people' made of ants," I repeated. "We could make them hold a crystal battery and use them as extra bodies that we could inhabit as Astral Phantoms. We could create temporary soldiers or workers. Each ant would be a part of the whole, contributing to the movement and actions of the figure."

"Oh,” Delta breathed out. “Damn. That’s… how do you even think of this stuff? Won’t people made of ants look gross?”

“We can make them wear clothes or... full body armor,” I shrugged. “Titanthorax ants will be able to lift a leather or another lightweight armor set without an issue."

"How do you even come up with this stuff?"

"Being a bioweapons designer kind of changes the way you look at things," I spread my arms. "You start to see the world as a complex system where every element can be manipulated and taken advantage of."

“Still, an ant-person sounds gross," Delta wrinkled her nose.

“An ant-person body would be able to go on expeditions deeper into the magogenic fault,” I pointed out.

“Why must you make me feel sad for ants?” She asked, shaking her head. “Won’t they all die horribly there?”

“No,” I said. “Ants are far more resistant to radiation compared to many other organisms, especially people. Their smaller size and simpler body structure allow for fewer cells to be affected by radiation and magic reducing the potential damage. Ants have a higher capacity for DNA repair, which helps to mitigate a variety of harmful effects. Titanthorax ants have crystalline [Strength] reinforced shells that allow them to go far deeper into the magogenic fault than a person. While slower than a bee, they can also gather materials in greater amounts.”

“Fine,” Delta sighed. “I’m sold. Lead me to the ant colony.”

I smirked, feeling victorious. I didn’t even tell her about the spiders I found.

“Hey Kliss,” I said, approaching the Overseer.

“Yes?” The Vow-bound girl stopped her digging.

“We’re going to get some… important work done in a forest,” I said. “Come watch over our bodies. Be a good friend and make sure something doesn’t eat us, while we’re out.”

“Can do,” Kliss nodded.

. . .

Delta and I sat down, our backs resting against the trunk of a thick tree, while Kliss stood guard. There was no way for the Vow to betray us here because Delta also released a swarm of fire bees from her large backpack.

Under the orders of Queen Delta, the Fire-Bees quickly covered our still bodies in a thick layer and also formed several constantly moving, defensive rings around us.

With Kliss and the Fire-Bees on guard, Delta and I slipped into a trance. Our souls reached out, connecting with the world beyond our physical senses, disconnecting from our bodies.

As we dove one layer down, the world became smudged with fluttering shadows, appearing painted in mercury-like shades of twilight. Currents of colorful magic flitted and danced over all living things, the flow of mana mirroring the ebb and flow of life in the world directly above.

[Ready?] I asked in Alanian song-speech vibrating through the Astral.

[Yep,] she replied, spreading hundreds of silver-blue threads. [Let's do this.]

With swift precision, I maneuvered Tether around my Lympnagons, shaping the protective dodecahedron-shaped barrier around me. Then, I positioned Legonnie to latch onto Delta's front, serving as a hexagonal shield.

I manifested all three of my Infoscopes, aligning two on either side of Delta and one directly in front of me. With this setup, Delta was armed with three [Sectus-Tether] cannons, resembling a fast-moving cruiser, while I, although slower, became a heavily armored carrier warship equipped with thirteen [Sectus-Tether] cannons.

Plus, we had our Phantom Hunter blades for close-up attacks.

As we navigated through the currents of magic beneath physical reality, we honed in on the energy signature of the Titanthorax ant colony.

Like a beacon in the murky depths, the collective life force of the ants pulsed and throbbed with raw [Strength], coloring the local Astral in red, malevolent tones.

The ant colony was nestled beneath a towering oak tree, its roots providing a natural fortress for the diligent creatures. Intricate pathways crisscrossed the ground, leading to and from the colony's entrance. The ants moved with a purposeful, rhythmic march, their mandibles dragging dead magical creatures into the hive.

Each ant was a miniature powerhouse. Their exoskeletons shimmered with a red sheen, leaving red trails across the Astral Ocean.

[Now what?] Delta asked as she examined the massive hive.

[Get under my shield,] I sent.

[Why?]

[These are wild creatures, unlike your bees they did not live under a Hex-Beacon and protection of a house ward for generations. They most likely have Astral-defenses,] I replied.

[You think so, hrmmm?]

[They have to. Otherwise other local Astral Phantoms would already eat them.]

[So... we're getting in how?] She asked as she flew inside my Sphere of Lympnagons.

[We'll have to act like something they've never seen before, something that they hopefully will have no defense against,] I grinned mentally.