The Grand Weave

"Xena. This. Sucks." She opened her mouth, and I placed my finger on her face, silencing her. "I know, weak fleshy mind."

It took less time to recover, so we quickly got into position and reconnected to the node. The room came into view, and I noticed that Igas had drunk the potion. His wounds were no longer bleeding, and some minor cuts had faded.

But he continued to pant and clutch his mangled arm, that the tier one potion had definitely not healed.

He stared at the empty potion vial and slowly nudged it away. Then he sat back and waited, silently staring at the same spot where it had appeared.

"Xena. Think we can make another? What about one more powerful?" I asked.

In the physical, I felt the fairy drum way too heavy fists against my cheek, nearly pulling me out of the connection.

"Be grateful. Spawning items cost mana. We already wasted some. We'll need more for the asshole messing up our dungeon!"

I sighed. "It takes that much to create a potion?"

Xena grumbled, but I waited.

Eventually, she stomped her foot. "No! Bah. But wasting resources for adventurers is wrong!"

"Isn't that your whole goal?"

I felt the anger spew forth.

"How dare-"

"Okay! Okay! Just, he's hurt and I can't heal him. If we can create a potion for him that'll work better than the tier one that'd be great."

"Last one," she growled. "The pain will be immense. And you are delaying our revenge!"

The process was simultaneously easier and more complex than before. The base imprint of creating the health potion settled into place, and my previous experience guided me. But the requirements to upgrade the potion's tier had me reeling. Even before the item solidified into existence, I nearly crashed, and the connection wavered.

Xena took over, reinforcing the mana as she pulled from my body. Chomperz helped, his willpower adjusting the rebellious strands into place.

Finally, the potion plopped atop the iceblock containing Elanor, and the connection snapped. The headache came, but it faded just as quickly.

As I helped Xena up, she stared at my stomach with a strange expression.

"Xena? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Strange. Your body has adapted."

"Felt plenty painful to me."

"No," she argued. "You should be nearly unconscious. But you are not. Strange. Flesh prisons don't work like that."

Okaaay.

When we saw Igas again, his arm looked much better, and he breathed steadily. This time, he held the potion against the light and frowned. He placed it down and nudged it out of the way while examining the room.

I created a scroll similar to the one I gave Isaac and Sereza. It explained that the potions were from me, and yes, I was safe. All he needed to do next was release Elanor and allow us to teleport the both of them.

The scroll knocked the potion vials down, but he ignored them and unfurled the scroll before scanning it. After he reached the bottom, his eyes shut, and he sighed.

"Cyrus... I have questions when we are done," Igas said.

As he spoke, he stood up and placed a hand atop Elanor's prison. The ice melted away, and he caught her head before she hit the floor. He then lifted her into a bridal carry and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm ready."

Xena beamed them out of the room, and I turned my attention away from the maze-like dungeon corridors. With the fairy's help, we shifted to another spot, a hallway lined with chromatic torches lining the walls and ceiling.

"This is awful! Too many colors! WHY?!"

I ignored her rant and pushed through the hallways. The torches changed color, reducing the variation to two and eventually one. Now that the torches were all white, I turned around and zipped the other way.

Eventually, I found my target and forced myself into a room with the highest concentration of mana I could feel. The dungeon sense expanded on what I usually used, reminding me of blips on a radar. I knew six people were in the room even though my vision hadn't yet adjusted.

When the room did come into view, I blanched at the state of the people within. Rello and Orlun desperately fought off a pair of massive creatures that took up the entire half of the room with their wide bodies.

Like the creatures we encountered before, they resembled a mix of tentacles and chitin, with several appendages sprouting from their sides. Tubes of grey flesh connected them to the walls, but their bodies were so wide that each tube was thicker than Igas.

While the guardsman battled against flaming limbs that burned with chromatic fire, Celanae stood several meters away, casting barrier after barrier to block the attacks of the other monster.

Teddy was there, but he stayed crouched next to a bleeding Aleena, who had a massive gash bisecting her front. It cut deep, exposing bone from her hip to her shoulder while she leaked blood from her eyes and mouth.

The skin around her flesh leaked brown ooze from crispy skin that flaked away with every convulsion. Her eyes were unfocused, and she stared into the distance while Teddy kept his eyes closed and both hands pressed against her chest.

His hands were the only thing keeping her body together.

Celanae wasn't just fighting on her front; she conjured crystal barriers that staved off a limb before shattering. The crystal would then reform into a thin plane of glass that sliced through the rubbery flesh before fading into motes of purple light.

Despite her efforts, the monster visibly regrew more limbs in an endless assault. And she wasn't just defending her side. Occasionally, a barrier would appear next to the guardsman, blocking a tentacle from impaling the men.

"Xena! Health potion now! Tier two, I don't give a shit how much it hurts!"

Thankfully, she didn't protest as the mana connected to the node and energy stretched into threads. She weaved faster than before, but the senses she kept on lock bombarded my own.

In the physical, I crashed to the floor but left my arm extended. The connection to the room began to fade.

"Keeper! Focus!"

I growled and felt Wrath bend its bars wide. It escaped its prison and slipped into my thoughts, diminishing my concentration. But instead of rebelling at the fairy's commands, I felt the connection strengthen.

Anger surged through my veins, and I honed it to maintain stability even as my body spasmed.

Chomperz had tried to help, but I felt his leathery wing resting against my cheek. His arms twitched, and his chest shuddered, but that only enhanced the demon inside.

Before long, we finished the creation process, and Xena slipped to the floor. I ignored it and slammed my attention into the room, just in time to see Teddy pour the potion into Aleena's wounds.

Blood bubbled, and threads of blood restitched itself together. Teddy helped by pressing her skin together. As Aleena took a deep breath and sputtered, he rushed toward Celanae.

She didn't flinch at his approach and dropped a barrier as he jumped and held out his shield. The smooth glass flashed in a dazzling array of light as Teddy channeled a concentrated beam of white light behind it. It spread across the field, leaving the monster stunned.

He stepped closer as Celanae conjured a barrier beneath his feet; a single leap launched him into the air like a missile that smashed into the monster. His mace took on a golden glow, and he swung after bashing its head aside. Eyes popped and splattered.

The pufferfish-like mace grew spikes that tore chunks of flesh away. But after the first swing, a golden copy formed. Massive spikes ripped furrows into the rubbery flesh, sprouting fountains of sizzling blood.

Another barrier appeared, and he jumped while it shot to the side, carrying him into the other monster. While Teddy rapidly assaulted the creature with the help of the guards, Celanae stepped up and raised her staff.

Mana swirled around her arm and into the crystal embedded in the head. As she slammed it against the stone, a thin barrier, like paper, came into existence, bisecting the creature's shoulder.

It roared. The monster used the remaining tentacles on its right side to smash it to pieces. Before it could retaliate against the elf, the shards became sawblades that rushed toward the monster's neck.

The monster died as the shards erased its head from the jawline down to its collarbone. It slumped to the floor in a geyser of caustic blood that Celanae diverted with a well-placed barrier.

As she turned her attention away, I saw the last of Teddy's fight. Rello pierced a massive tentacle with a spike that held it down while Orlun dashed forward. His blade glowed blue, and he sliced downward, cutting halfway through. The ethereal copy followed, relieved the monster of its final tentacle, and Teddy finally stepped in.

He channeled mana into his weapon, the stonelike head glowing with golden light. Without hesitating, he swung and bashed the air.

But it didn't matter if he missed; that wasn't the goal.

The golden copy came into existence above the monster's head. The monster roared and snapped at the skill, but with a crunch, Teddy bisected it while splattering goop across the floor.

More barriers appeared that stopped the black tar from spreading before it ate away the stone.

Orlun and Rello crashed to their asses as Teddy flicked off monster chunks. Celanae joined him and patted his back. The two grinned at each other before Teddy shook his head.

He looked to the ceiling and opened his mouth, but rumbling shook the room. The distant wall shook as it sank into the floor, revealing a gore-smattered Eodyne and Arturous. The big lug padded through and happily smothered Teddy with his tongue.

Smoke wafted into the air, and she dismissed her bow. Behind her, I caught the fried corpses of an equally large beast, this one bipedal with tubes stretching across the room.

It wasn't as large as the ones in the current room, but four pairs of arms had scythe-like blades at the ends. Its albino skin continued to twitch even though its front was nothing more than a blackened crisp.

Eodyne shared the same grin, and they reunited.

With the battle over, I finally allowed myself to breathe. Xena had rejoined me at some point, but Chomperz stayed where he was, his wings covering my nose.

I broke the connection and scooped up the dragonling. As I brought him closer to inspect for damage, he gently nibbled on my finger and flapped his wings. He rolled to his stomach and stood up on shaky legs.

"Chompz? You okay?"

He shook his head and then nodded.

"So and so?"

He nodded.

I sighed with relief and brought him into a hug. He squirmed out of my grasp and poked my cheek. I chuckled and sat up steadily so I didn't knock Xena off.

"Bring back the connection."

I complied and found Teddy pointing to Aleena, who a stone-faced Rello was hugging. Orlun stood, but he kept a hand on both their shoulders.

They really do remind me of the trio. Damn.

It brought bittersweet memories, and I pushed it aside. Surprisingly, the gremlin retreated into its cage after the fight ended. I was tempted to examine why, but I focused on the conversation between Teddy, Celanae, and Eodyne.

Teddy held up the empty potion bottle and shook it. "I'm telling you, it has to be Cyrus."

My eye twitched.

"I don't disagree; it's just..." Celanae sighed. "You know what? Nevermind. It's definitely Cyrus."

"It better be him," Eodyne grumbled.

She clenched her fists and stared at the empty vial.

"This doesn't explain how he would have delivered a tier-two health potion. But... I guess nothing is off the table with him," Celanae added.

Okay. Enough with the slander.

With near instinct at this point, a very bright, neon-pink scroll appeared. To my disappointment, Celanae conjured a barrier and trapped the scroll inside a cube before it could land on Teddy's head.

The trio stared at the rolled-up paper covered in unicorn stickers for a minute straight before Celanae dropped her skill. Eodyne caught the scroll and unfurled it for the others to see.

I waited, a stupid grin on my face as Xena stood with her arms crossed.

Eodyne lowered the scroll and made it disappear, probably into her dimensional storage.

She looked to the ceiling and glared. "Cyrus. Are you implying I'm getting fat?"

Oops.