Mistrunner 4 - Chapter 13 - Ambiguity (Patreon)

Challenging Rifts is a fool’s errand. Even with proper precautions, it is potentially lethal. And yet, across the universe, there are droves of idiots willing to risk their lives for power, glory, and, of course, monetary gain. The universe depends on these ill-fated and often desperate adventurers. Without them, the universal economy would collapse. Perhaps that would be a good thing.

Alistaris Kargat

As I hefted my sniper rifle, I flooded Vanish with Mist, disappearing entirely. The moment the ability took hold, I embraced Stealth, then cycled through my abilities. However, the second that Vanish’s effect dissipated, my Stealth fell away. I never even had time to shoot before I was once again visible.

I scanned the area to see if I could figure out what had canceled my ability, but my first glance yielded no results. It wasn’t until I looked a little closer that I saw a subtle glow coming from the multitude of statues.

“Shit,” I muttered, freezing in place as I prayed that the crystal dragon – that was the only way I could really describe it – wouldn’t respond to my movement. Fortunately, I hadn’t crossed whatever threshold existed for a response, and it remained completely inert. I knew that wouldn’t last, though.

“What?” asked Patrick through Secure Connection.

“The statues. That’s what keeps canceling my Stealth.”

“Can you pick it apart like you did with the dervishes?”

“No,” I answered. “I mean, yes. But it would take too long. Plus, I could only get the ones in our immediate surroundings before I had to move into the crystal dragon’s range.”

“It’s more like a wyvern,” Patrick said. “Because its arms are part of the wing structure, and –”

“Not important, Pick.”

“Right. Sure. So – what are we going to do?” he asked.

I wracked my brains. If it was just me, I would’ve just blanketed the whole area in powerful explosives – either planted or shot from my BMAP – but with Patrick there, I was hesitant to do so. He didn’t have the benefit of Blast Shield, which, to a degree, protected me from the power of my own explosions. So, anything I did that would destroy the statues or the crystal wyvern – I hated that I couldn’t think of it any other way after he’d pointed it out – would almost assuredly put Patrick in mortal danger.

So, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to use Stealth.

“Okay,” I said. “How sturdy is that armor? Do you think it stand up to that purple fire?”

“So long as my shield stays active,” he answered. “Won’t last long under that kind of barrage, though. Maybe twenty seconds if what we saw a minute ago is the best it can do. Why? What are you thinking?”

As usual, I felt that simple was probably better. If we’d had time to plan, and all my abilities were available, perhaps I could’ve thought of something better. However, I felt like the moment we crossed into the crystal wyvern’s range, all hell was going to break loose. And with Patrick there, my options were even more limited.

No – a straight assault was probably the best case scenario. I just needed a little distraction.

So, I told Patrick what I wanted. For his part, he took to the plan with gusto, largely because it hinged so thoroughly on the operation of his armor. For better or worse, he’d always felt like he was holding me back. It wasn’t true. He served a vital role in our relationship, both tactically and socially. However, no matter how many times I made that clear, a bit of an inferiority had persisted.

But now, he was needed, and he couldn’t contain his excitement at that turn of events. Even if, by all rights, he should have been terrified of the literal monster whose attention he was supposed to get.

I knew I was, but not for myself. Rather, I was afraid for him.

And yet, I had no real choice in the matter. Our backs were to the wall, and, as far as I could tell, there was no way to completely shield him from the dangers of combat. So, once Patrick was ready, I kicked off the ground and raced forward. Meanwhile, he unfolded the Dragon from his back and opened fire.

The wyvern reacted immediately, and it turned its purple flames in his direction. At the same time, he pelted it with the Dragon’s weakened issue; in my hands, it was a weapon capable of tearing down buildings. In his, it was the anti-personnel weapon it was always meant to be.

Unfortunately, the wyvern was made of seemingly indestructible crystal, and so, even though the rounds hammered home, the result was only a few chips in its crystalline body. At the same time, though, it bathed Patrick in purple fire, and I knew the clock had begun to tick. Soon enough, his Mist would be exhausted, and then, there would be nothing to protect him from being cooked inside his armor.

So, before that could happen, I raced across the chamber, weaving between the scattered golem-shaped statues. Each one reacted to my passing, flashing with purple light, but before that action could bear fruit, I was already gone.

Never before had I moved so quickly, and I propelled myself forward with every point of my exaggerated constitution. At a dead sprint, each step covered almost ten feet, and before a few seconds had passed, I was leaping into the air, my nano-bladed sword held high in a striking position.

It fell before the wyvern could react, and the blade bit deeply into the thing’s wing. I let my momentum take me past the monster in a tumbling roll that ended a few feet later.

And that’s when things started to go wrong.

The moment I gathered my feet under me, I felt a tide of Mist coming my way. Without thinking, I embraced Teleport and appeared twenty feet to my right. But it wasn’t enough to allow me to avoid the wave of purple fire that swept over that side of the chamber. I screamed as it washed over me, then instinctively lashed out with Mist Control.

Years of pitting myself against increasingly difficult puzzles during my training paid off, and I tore through the building blocks of that fire – nanites that weren’t so different from the clouds of Mist that comprised the dervishes – with a blistering pace. It wasn’t enough to completely protect me, though. I felt my skin blistering under the heat even as I pushed myself to the limit. But it could have been much, much worse, and by the time the fire faded, I was still alive and on my feet.

And I was pissed off.

With a roar, I launched myself at the wyvern, hacking at it with my nano-bladed sword. I got in six attacks before it swept its wing in my direction and sent me stumbling backward. I turned that stumble into a roll, and when I found my feet, I leaped high into the air and summoned my R-14.

Shooting an automatic rifle with one hand is an ill-advised tactic. I knew that. However, with my Constitution as well as the size and relative proximity of the enemy, I felt I could handle it. So, with my assault rifle in one hand and my sword in the other, I embraced Explosive Shot before emptying my magazine into the crystalline wyvern.

It took the shots well, but with my modifiers as well as Explosive Shot, I could put an incredible amount of force behind each round. Crystal splinters filled the air as I dug deep craters into he monster’s body. However, by the time I had emptied the entire magazine, I realized that the damage was only cosmetic.

Activating Instant Reload, I finally hit the ground only a few feet in front of the monster. I hacked at its legs, hoping to repeat the tactic I’d used to take down the first golem. Via blade and bullet, I dug a deep groove into its knee, but when I placed an explosive, I got yet another surprise when the thing’s entire body burst into purple flames, destroying the charge with a wave of burning Mist.

But more urgently, whether it was an ability or a signal, that pulse of flame awakened the golems. Light burst forth from their chests as they surged into motion, racing in my direction. I leaped, kicking off the wyvern’s crystalline claw and landing atop its head. There, I continued to hack at its glassy flesh.

Meanwhile, Patrick shouted something incoherent before turning the Dragon on the swarm of golems. He was incapable of hurting the wyvern, but the same couldn’t be said for its minions. Even the weakened Dragon was more than a match for those smaller golems, and in only seconds, he cut a swath of golems down.

That was enough to get their attention, and my heart leaped into my throat as they lumbered toward him. But that was all the attention I could spare, because the wyvern hadn’t spent those few seconds idle. I twisted, narrowly avoiding a giant spike of crystal that erupted from its shoulder, then leaped aside as another came from the side of its head. Even as I dodged, those spikes retracted before being replaced by more.

I danced, putting every point of my enhanced Mind and Constitution to the test as I twisted and turned in an effort to avoid being impaled. At the same time, I continued my attacks, targeting the same spot as often as I could.

I was just starting to get the hang of it when the monster spread its wings and leaped into the air. Before I knew what was going on, we were airborne, and I was forced to dismiss my rifle as I hung on for dear life. But the spikes had never stopped their assault, and in that brief second of surprise, I was pierced through by three spear-like protrusions.

I screamed in mingled pain and frustration as I redoubled my focus.

At the same time, I tossed out grenades – not my best, but good enough – peppering the golems with explosions. The wyvern beat its wings, gaining altitude until it slammed its back against the ceiling.

Unfortunately, I was caught between a wyvern and a hard place, and in addition to the burns and other wounds I’d sustained, I felt bones crack with the impact. Still, I held on for dear life, but when it pulled away, my sword fell from my broken hand. I watched as it clattered to the ground.

Far below, Patrick continued to defend against the horde of golems, filling the air with shattered shards of crystal. Still, they persisted, and I knew he’d run out of ammunition well before he destroyed them all.

I needed to do something.

And even as I continued to cling to the monster’s back, I knew that my options were limited. So, I once again reached out with Mist Control, hoping to pick the creature apart in the same way I’d torn the dervishes to pieces.

That was an absolute mistake, as I discovered a moment later when my interrupted attention almost got me thrown free. As powerful as Mist Control was, it required unmitigated focus. As such, it couldn’t be the solution to all of my problems. So, I abandoned that line of attack and committed to a more familiar path.

Activating Combination Punch, I grabbed hold of one of the wyvern’s ridges, then reared back with the Hand of God. Harnessing every ounce of strength I could bring to bear, I smashed the cybernetic hand into the nigh-invulnerable crystalline surface of the wyvern’s head.

The first attack did almost nothing. But due to the nature of Combination Punch, the second did much more damage. And the third was even more impactful. By the fourth, I’d started to make a dent. Normally, that was where the string of punches would end, but my influx of levels as well as my increased pool of Mist meant that I could use two more attacks.

The fifth punch, which was twice as powerful as the fourth, tore a huge crater into the wyvern. For the first time, it screeched in pain, and it tucked its wings close to its body, prompting a dive. Hanging on for dear life, I hit it again, extending the string of punches to the maximum.

At my best, I could hit damned hard. I’d tested it a few times, and I could put almost six-thousand pounds per square inch worth of force behind each punch. And given that each attack in the string associated with Combo Punch doubled that power, that sixth attack came with almost two-hundred-thousand pounds of pure impact. Add to that the previous punches, which had already undermined the integrity of the crystalline wyvern’s glassy flesh, and that final attack very nearly tore its head from its shoulders.

I’m not sure what the thing’s plan for the dive had been, but my punch had torn its attentions to pieces, and as a result, we slammed into the ground with the force of a falling meteor. A dozen golems shattered at the point of impact, and one of the wyvern’s wings broke free. For my part, I leaped from my position and used Teleport to arrest some of my momentum before hitting the ground in a roll that highlighted just how much I’d already been injured.

But I didn’t have time to wallow in my pain. So, I summoned my R-14 and pushed myself to my feet just in time to see Patrick – in all his armored glory – laying waste to the remaining golems. He’d stowed the Dragon away – probably because he’d used all of his ammunition – and had replaced it with the long blade extending from his arm.

On his other arm was a smaller, mobile version of his Mist shield.

I’d seen Patrick fight often enough to know that he could handle himself. However, still, I was more than a little surprised with the level of technique and power he brought to bear. He didn’t move quickly, but his every motion screamed efficiency as he slammed golems to the side with his shield or shattered them to pieces with his enormous sword.

It was absolutely glorious.

And I admit, I had trouble focusing on anything else for a few seconds. But then, the moment passed, and I remembered that, despite his combat prowess, he needed my help. So, taking the R-14 in hand, I started firing.

One three-round burst after another, I tore through the ambulatory statues. At first, I concentrated on their legs, removing their ability to walk. However, after a few moments, I realized that they were far weaker than expected. So, I adjusted my aim and started firing on their torsos or heads, killing one with each burst of fire.

Gradually, Patrick and I whittled them down until, at last, the last one fell.

Only then did I let myself feel the full weight of my injuries.

The silhouette on my HUD glowed almost entirely red, with a few spots of orange, telling me just how extensive my wounds were. So, without further hesitation, I yanked a med-hypo from my arsenal implant and jabbed it into my hip.

Immediately, the pain I hadn’t let myself acknowledge began to fade. But I knew I wasn’t out of the woods. Not yet.

Vaguely, I was aware of Patrick calling my name, but I couldn’t focus on that. Instead, now that the adrenaline of battle had begun to fade, I needed every ounce of my attention on the task at hand. So, with some degree of difficulty, I dragged another item from my arsenal implant.

I jabbed the needle for the Mist booster into my hip about an inch below where I’d injected the med-hypo. Then, as Mist flooded my body, I focused on Mist Control.

When [Cybernetic Mastery] had first evolved into [Mist-Infused Body], I’d been disappointed by the reduction in potential cybernetic slots. However, after looking at the skill’s description, that disappointment reversed course into elation:

[Mist-Infused Body] – Allows for increased performance from up to five (5) cybernetics. In addition, the Mist-Infused Body can utilize Mist to repair damage to organic tissue. Frequency of use limited by Mist attribute. Current: Once per seventy-one (Earth) hours.

The ability to regenerate via Mist hadn’t activated like all my other abilities. Instead, it had required me to use my {Mist Warden} senses to prompt activation. However, now that Misthack had evolved into Mist Control, I had far more influence over the process. I used it to guide the Mist into the worst of my injuries, then let [Mist-Infused Body] take over from there.

I screamed as the nanites jolted my body back to some semblance of health. Old, burned skin flaked off, then regrew in the space of seconds while my broken bones wrenched back into place and mended. A hundred other, smaller injuries healed in the space of moments, and by the time Patrick reached my side, I’d been almost entirely rebuilt.

I looked up at his armored form and said, “That was incredibly unpleasant.”

“You’re bald.”

“Huh?” I muttered, reaching up to feel my head.

“Like, no more hair.”

“Oh, God…”

“I think it’s sexy,” he said in his semi-robotic voice. “In a weird, alien sort of way.”

“Ugh.”

I didn’t really have room to complain. After what I’d just been through, I probably should have been dead. Or at least horribly scarred. Once again, I’d been bailed out by strange, new abilities.

And I didn’t like it.

I was used to the world making sense. I understood how all my skills and abilities worked. It was right there in my interface. But there was so much more to Mist Control. And the regeneration associated with [Mist-Infused Body] wasn’t even listed as an ability. Was that how mystics like the Templars did things? If so, I wondered how they ever managed to progress.

“Are you okay?” asked Patrick.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Just thinking about how much I took clarity for granted.” I pushed myself to my feet, then said, “So, you think that was the last monster?”

He pointed with his armored finger, and I followed the gesture until I saw a huge crate in the center of the room. It was at least the size of a train car, and the moment I laid eyes – or more accurately, my {Mist Warden} senses, I knew it was full of Rift shards.

“I think that answers that,” Patrick said.

“Can you fit it all?” I asked.

He answered, “I don’t know, but I’m damn sure going to try.”

And with that, we went to collect our hard-won loot.