NOVEL WEB CHAPTER 84: BOOTSTRAPPING
GRIFFIN TUCKER VASILIAS, GREAT HOUSE SCION, REBORN LVL 5
MT DISCOVERY, PROVINCE OF ARAGONIA
Achievement Gained!
Better Out Than In
Description: Survive a trip through a monster’s digestive system.
Reward: 1 bottle of HyperCleen personal cleanser, 1 Small Health Pack
Deep in the bowels of Mt. Discovery in a hot, dark hole Griffin moved for the first time in what felt like hours. He’d been running critically low on tensa, even when using his Ten Star Vortex anima configuration. His DEEP Suit’s Dynamic Adaptation mode had kept him alive, but he’d had to devote almost all his focus to keeping his tensa pool from bottoming out so he wouldn’t lose it. He’d crawled out of the mess he’d been expunged from the Mother in and hid as soon as he could.
The bottle of HyperCleen from the System along with the Health Pack had deposited themselves into his Inventory and Griffin was desperate to see what the HyperCleen did. If it could get rid of even a little of the shit that had caked into every single crevice and crack in his DEEP Suit—and probably his very soul—he could die a happy man. Well, a clean one anyway, and at this point it was the same thing. He considered pulling it out now, but he was in a literal pit full of monster poop so he decided to wait until he was in slightly more sanitary surroundings.
Now—finally—he could start doing something to try and get out of here. He’d been so close! If only he’d had more control of that blast. He’d seen trees! And now… He could hardly even believe he was still alive. He been eaten by that thing, or was that just part of the one long, super-realistic hallucination his life had become now?
The Mother had just crouched there in the hot little hole she’d climbed into to do her dirty business for hours. Then, just a minute or so ago, she abruptly left, her myriad legs churning with purpose, her cybernetic implants whirring and blinking furiously.
Kismet flitted around the small hole and came back to him, “I cannot detect any monsters within a hundred meters. Go now!”
Griffin stumbled to his feet, feeling stiff and aching all over. Even with the help of the DEEP Suit assisting his muscles, he couldn’t get rid of the stiffness of crouching still for so long. He stared up at the top of the hole some three hundred meters up.
Glowing blue fungus proliferated everywhere here, feeding on whatever magical byproducts existed in the waste of a plasma cybercentipede Mother and spreading up the wall in thin creeping tendrils. He got the sense that he was standing in deep shi—feces.
“Kismet, I’d really love to ‘go now’, but how the hell am I going to get three hundred meters directly up? I don’t have jump jets or anything.” Griffin’s On Board Sensor Suit was showing him a detailed HUD with possible climbing routes along with estimated times and likelihoods of success. None looked very rosy.
Kismet made that little gesture and Griffin’s character sheet appeared in front of him. She flitted to the relevant portion of the character sheet, highlighting something he hadn’t noticed before:
Griffin Tucker Vasilias
Race
Human
Rank/Level
Reborn - level 5
House
House Vasilias
Racial Gifts
Great House Seal, Enhanced System Access, Unlimited Inventory, Monster Rendering, DEMI Port, Overcharge
Attributes
Dominion
12 [Ocean] / 20
Speed
14 [Data] /20
Precision
9 [Void] / 20
Growth
14 [Void] /20
Arcana
15 [Mind] /20
Tensa Pool
35.4 ks
Gear
[Inventory collapsed due to space constraints]
Grafts
Adaptive Conjuration [Mind], Sensor Suite [Speed], Dread Consumption [Void], Reality Twine [Void], DEEP Suit [Ocean]
Kismet had highlighted the portion of his character that she had already anticipated and he’d simply missed. His wild flight from the Mother when he first got the DEEP Suit came flooding back to him and he gulped. It had been thrilling, sure, but this was different. Wasn’t it?
Reality Twine [Void] – Precision 9
Next Rank: 1 Uncommon ethershard of the Void, 1 Uncommon ethershard of Dimension
Cost: 5% initial investment; expandable (see Description)
Cooldown: None
Description: Invest a percentage of your tensa pool and create a spool of Reality Twine. Reality Twine cannot be broken unless willed by you. Reality Twine is invisible to all senses except for tensa-sensing abilities unless you will it to be visible. Reality Twine is one of the few things that can interact with a Void monster. Spend more tensa to create larger spools of Reality Twine.
Anchors. You can anchor Reality Twine to anywhere in reality by expending 100 sparks to create the anchor point. Reality Twine and any anchor points you create may be dismissed at any time.
3-D Movement System (Reality Twine synergy)
Description: Invest 10% of your tensa pool to gain the 3-D Movement System using your Reality Twine graft synergy. This will create a 350-meter-long spool of Reality Twine that the DEEP Suit uses to provide three-dimensional movement capability via auto propelled grapnel spikes.
“I’m not sure I really wanna do this again,” Griffin said. “I don’t even know if I can do it, to be honest.” As he was talking, he was fiddling with the HUD UI and a moment later, a new box appeared in front of him. “Ah, never mind. I think I got it.”
DEEP Suit On-Board 3-D Movement System
To use the 3-D Movement System with the DEEP Suit, you will need to invest 10% (1.5 ks) of your tensa pool. Enable 3-D Movement System?
YES / NO
Griffin selected “YES” and the DEEP Suit locked up in something it called Reconfiguration Mode until he invested the tensa. Because it was his graft, he instinctively knew how to use it, so he was able to invest the tensa without really knowing how he did it. With the tensa invested, the DEEP Suit unlocked itself and spent a few seconds squirming around on his body before his HUD fuzzed out and then cleared up again.
This time, instead of showing climbing routes, he saw regions on the slick walls of the cave which his Augmented Reality HUD was identifying as ‘possible anchor points’. The suit didn’t give him any additional guidance beyond that. Then again… there was that little bubble there that said:
3DMVMT_OFF
Griffin focused on the button and thought Turn on! Come on, pleeeeeeease… An instant later, the button filled in and changed:
3DMVMT_ON
Something whirred softly at his shoulders and hips. Griffin looked down and saw that four tiny nozzles had formed on his shoulders and at his hips. The DEEP Suit had been reinforced at those points and Griffin felt the suit reconfiguring itself yet again, using the tensa he kept pouring into it to power the transformation.
It only took a few seconds, but when it was done, Griffin could tell that he had far more support along his back, shoulders, and torso. He looked at one of the “anchor points” in his HUD and this time, when he looked at it, the point lit up, waiting for acknowledgment. Griffin saw the course plotted by the tracking software and decided to go ahead and follow it. The instant he made that decision, the DEEP Suit reacted.
The nozzles on Griffin’s shoulders pointed toward the anchor point and a little puff of air sounded and something went snik with the sound of metal impacting rock. An incredibly thin and sheer line trailed out of the shoulder nozzle, connecting him to the point in the wall.
“Huh. Well, that’s a bit anticlima—” Griffin started to say, then he was cut off as the DEEP Suit started reeling in the line while the little nozzles at his hips turned out to be omnidirectional thrusters that propelled him upwards.
Griffin screamed as the DEEP Suit executed its route plan using the 3-D Movement System. This was terrifyingly familiar. He swung chaotically at the end of the nearly invisible line that was impossibly strong as his suit launched him up and into the walls. He was protected from most of the battering, but by the time the DEEP Suit had finished with its route and had deposited him at the lip of the pit, he was semi-conscious at best. His helmet retracted and Griffin panted and grimaced at the smell, though he didn’t put the helmet back on.
“I feel like a goldfish that’s been shaken in the bag,” Griffin moaned, rolling away from the edge of the pit. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be stupid enough to do that again. Why did I think it’d be so awesome when I saw it in Attack on Titan?!”
“I’ve been impressed at your clumsiness in the past,” Kismet said wonderingly, “but the sheer…maladroitness—what a wonderful word to pick up from your brain by the way—yes, the sheer maladroitness of that display was truly incredible. As in, if I hadn’t seen it myself, I’d think you were acting.”
“That hurt almost as much as the ride up here,” Griffin said, groaning again as he got to his feet. “Now how the hell do we get out of here? Oh! And where’s that super-clean or whatever it was?”
“Good question,” a new voice said wryly. “I think I might be able to help with the first one. You’re on your own for the second one, though personally, I hope you find it quickly. You stink like centipede ass.”
A silhouette detached itself from the darkness, resolving into a short, compact woman wearing a dark grey combat suit with plates sewn into it in strategic places. She was pretty in a I’m-gonna-kick-your-ass kind of way and she’d colored her hair an aggressively bright purple that turned into neon pink. She looked like a rock star in SWAT team gear—or maybe it was a ninja outfit?
She looked relaxed and deadly. She looked supremely competent. Disturbingly, in addition to the two brown eyes staring at him in amusement, there was a third eye in the middle of her forehead. The iris of the third eye was a shimmering pinkish-green. It winked at him and, to his surprise, he found himself smiling at her. Then the rest of what she said finished processing and he blushed.
He opened his Inventory and pulled out the bottle of HyperCleen he’d just picked up from the Achievement he’d gotten from being shit out by the Mother. The bottle popped out of his Inventory and into his hands and he stared at it nonplussed. It looked just like a bottle of cleaning fluid from Earth, complete with the stupidly spelled name. He turned the bottle over and saw that there was just one instruction on it: “Open bottle and pour over soiled item.”
He turned it back over and shrugged, twisting off the plastic cap and sniffing the liquid inside. It smelled like rubbing alcohol mixed with thyme or sage or some other kind of herbal or floral scent. The alcohol scent was almost too strong to tell. He squeezed his eyes shut and dumped the bottle on his head, gasping at the freezing sensation of the liquid.
The HyperCleen tingled as it trickled down his scalp and the smell of rubbing alcohol overwhelmed him. Griffin had his eyes closed, so he couldn’t see how the HyperCleen spread out supernaturally quickly over his entire body, armor and all. It fizzed and hissed as it flowed down, scouring the filth off the armor as it went. A few seconds later, when the overwhelming alcohol scent had faded somewhat, Griffin opened his eyes.
The woman smiled and strode forward, holding out her right hand to him. “Now that you don’t stink like a rotten monster anus, we can introduce ourselves. I’m Jessaline Braedes, of House Braedes and Scout for Xander Vasilias’ team.” The woman gave him an assessing look and clasped forearms with him just like on Xena: Warrior Princess.
Griffin suppressed an urge to laugh, returning the grip, and said, “Yeah it’s not exactly ideal meeting circumstances. Nice to meet you anyway, Jessaline Braedes. I’m Griffin. Uh. Griffin Tucker. Vasilias.”
Her eyes widened, including the third eye in the middle of her forehead. “You’re the Scion! Ha! And I’ve found you!”
Griffin had a moment of complete blankness, “The what now?”
Jessaline frowned, letting go of his forearm and stepping back quickly, her hand going to her side to something Griffin presumed was a weapon. “If you’re not the Scion, then who are you?” Her voice had gone flat and deadly.
Kismet flitted up to his ear and said, “You’re the Vasilias Scion, Griffin! Acknowledge it and offer to share access to your System profile as proof.”
“Um, I’m the Scion!” Griffin said quickly, “Sorry, the question took me by surprise. I can share my…uh, my System profile if you need. You know. Um. Proof.”
The woman nodded warily, not removing her hand from her side. “Yeah, you better do that. Now.”
Griffin fumbled in his System menus for a minute, then managed to share his profile with the woman still eyeing him like she was sizing him up for a coffin. She took a moment to inspect his profile, and then she was all friendly again, taking her hand away from her side and relaxing again.
“You’re…not what I thought you’d be,” she said, brushing her hair back and giving him a frank once-over. She glanced at Kismet’s hologram and her expression turned unreadable. “Is that a knowledge imp of some kind? A datadaemon?”
“Nothing here is what I thought it’d be,” Griffin said, laughing a little, feeling just a bit of his tension leave. “This is Kismet, she’s a System Eidolon, not a knowledge imp or whatever.” He shared an amused glance with Kismet and then turned back, “So how’d you kill it?”
“Kill what?”
“The Mother. I mean, I assume…” Griffin trailed off shaking his head. “You didn’t actually kill the monster did you?”
Jessaline laughed, “Of course not; didn’t you hear me? I’m a Scout. Now come on, I’m taking you back to my team.
“It’s incredible that you’re the Scion; you’re not even Stone rank! And with a System Eidolon! I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of anything so wild. We need to get you out of here before something kills you by accident.” She held out her hand again and said, “Come on, I don’t bite. Besides, I need you to be in constant physical contact to extend my Web of Shadows.”
Griffin hesitated a moment, looking over at Kismet for confirmation—she enthusiastically nodded her head—before he took Jessaline’s hand. Her skin was ice-cold and he almost couldn’t even tell he was holding her hand—or any human hand for that matter—the texture was so weird. It was like her skin was made of the softest cloth he’d ever felt and he looked down in surprise.
His HUD registered her hand as being inundated with tensa. It had turned a deep, light-suckingly black. The blackness seeped from her hand to his and he felt a peculiar cool breeze across his exposed skin that crept both under his DEEP suit and over it. The blackness seemed to sink right into him until his entire being was made of shadow substance.
“Hurry up,” Jessaline’s voice cut through the strangeness and she tugged insistently on his hand. “The Web of Shadows isn’t perfect, but it should get us by a Class 1 Boss like the Mother.”
Griffin stumbled after her as she led him into the darkness that was no longer darkness to Griffin. He kept expecting to see the Mother suddenly appear ahead of them like a malevolent insectile Batman, always appearing when she was least expected or wanted. But he never caught any sign of her, no matter how he looked.
His HUD integrated with his Sensor Suite, turning the infrared heat signatures, tensa flows, and SONAR sensory data to build a comprehensive map of his immediate area, projecting it back into his eyes as an illusion of reality. It effectively gave him the best night vision he’d ever imagined could exist. The tunnels weren’t exactly exciting to look at, but at least he wasn’t going to trip over something in the dark. Jessaline tugged him after her, insistent and fast.
They raced through meandering natural tunnels for what felt like hours. Sometimes, without any explanation, Jessaline would stop and they’d crouch there for long minutes. Then, the Scout would stand up and continue their long trek in the dark that wasn’t dark, dragging Griffin insistently along. He wondered if they’d come across any zombies, or if they were deeper than the zombies now.
Griffin checked his internal map which was also being updated by his Sensor Suite and it showed him a tangle of tunnels that branched and rebranched off from each other in a tangle that reminded him of a ball of string. They were somewhere in the middle of the ball of string, slowly making their way up. Griffin sighed and did his best to keep up with the scout, a million questions swirling around his head but the tense silence discouraged any conversation. It was going to be a long hike.