Weapons of Mass Destruction

The guides don’t seem to tell me how to control Deathtrap or operate the control panel. Even getting access is difficult, and just looking into it, I have to go around, wasting time and mana.

It's clear that they have a vested interest in restricting access to the controls, and all our guides seem to bear some kind of mark that makes it easier for them to control the flying train/ship and while barring them from taking specific actions. Otherwise, they go kaboom.

At first, I think it must be the work of someone like Sophie, and yet the guide’s marks feel more limited in scope. Sophie, on the other hand, should be able to do more given some time.

Even so, while guides no. 1 and no. 2 take care of our defenses and mana usage while paying special attention to the engines, fields, navigation, stabilizers, and auxiliary functions, I try to learn as much as possible about the controls. I've done more difficult things, this shouldn’t be a problem and I’ve been studying the wide variety of blueprints recorded on the many mana stones I’ve taken from the previous floors every night before bed.

It won’t be long before the guides can screw off. I’m sure if I split my mind with [Focus] I should have no problem controlling this rusty thing on my own. I can just use [Infusion] to get myself in, I can [Resonance] at the right times and then use my eyes and [Mana Manipulation]. Easy as that.

Even so, I may as well let them handle it for a while and teleport back into our room, where the rest of group 4 is waiting, along with some of the leaders of the more powerful groups abroad.

Tess, Sophie, and Izzy seem to be busy talking to the blue guys so I head towards the corpse of the marauder. Lily stands there as well, poking and probing at it.

“Was it strong?” I ask, my voice taking on a hushed tone. I don't want to bring attention to myself.

“It cut me in half, here,” she gestures horizontally from one side of her waist to the other. A part of her shirt is missing, allowing a section of her belly to peek through.

Even as she talks about being cut in half, Lily continues to smile, “It didn’t even use mana so its stats must be great and its natural weapons must be very strong to deal that much damage to me. You know, I’ve already altered my bones a bit and it still cut through.” She states, shaking her head at the thought.

Yeah, more typical Group 4 behavior.

“What about the mental attacks?” I ask.

“We don't know. Twins think it might have been some sort of hypnosis that didn’t rely on mana, Sophie theorizes it was a gas we couldn't see or smell. Kim thinks it’s something like primordial energy given that they don't seem to affect the sand. Though there might be other stuff like that.”

“Do you think one of the guides was keeping it as a pet?” I ask, giving the body a prod as well. It feels like glass to the touch but it’s still slightly warm and very tough.

“Izzy thinks so,” Lily nods. “We also got some information from the groups that were colluding with them and each one has a different story. Some were promised positions of power in the central region, others were told stories of great items, while others were told we’d be looking for a way to leave the moon.”

“So they were just pawns to be thrown away as needed and our blue friends are the only ones left who might know something.”

“Yes.”

“They know something but they’ve been refusing to talk. They want to strike a deal,” Sophie says, joining us with a sigh. She seems tired. “I couldn't get much from them, they have good mental defenses and they set traps, if I push any harder they will die.”

“They shouldn’t have any mana,” I note.

“No. They shouldn’t. And yet they do. I'm almost certain they didn't have any when you brought them back so maybe they have a passive that’s let them in some way recover the little bit of mana they needed to set their mental traps. Maybe it's just a trait that makes them resistant to mental attacks, one that might not need mana to operate.”

“That sucks. We’re going to hit the storm In a few hours and the guides can't change the trajectory. Even if they could, it's too late.” I poke the marauder’s corpse one more time and stand up.

“Yes, they passed me the information. Did you see the new side quest?”

Huh?

I open my notifications in surprise and sure enough, there’s a new quest.

Side quest:Survive

Reward:

???

Beyond 3-day stay token

Objective: survive. Oh, how I missed this kind of quest.

After that, the room becomes too rowdy as some of the leaders start screaming at the two blue guys who simply laugh in their faces. The Dawnslayer however, is quiet, just going by his expression and behavior it wouldn’t take a genius to guess that he has some kind of concentration skill.

I watch as Tess kicks a few of the guys out and zaps a few more rendering the room more or less silent.

She doesn't even seem to be all that angry, it’s more like she’d gotten stuck dealing with a particularly annoying set of kids, issued spankings, and left them sobbing quietly in the corner.

I leave the room and walk through the hallway as it begins to fill with people jockeying to get even a bit closer, wanting to be the first to receive any new information. Some start asking me right away. I ignore it all and walk through and lash out when some especially annoying vyssari jumps in my way, trying to threaten me into revealing anything I might know, I kick him away, sending him crashing into a rusty wall, While one of his friends gets blasted away with a weak burst of kinetic energy.

I feel a bit awkward, with how short these guys are, almost like kids. Kids with beards and raspy voices.

Meanwhile, Deathtrap flies on, listing off to one side, It’s noisier than before, now that it has such a massive hole in the wall. As I pass by I see one of the guides, directing groups of emergency conscripts to carry huge metal plates and stack them into a series of makeshift constructions being built around the hole.

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The guide doesn’t have his mask either and is profusely sweating and cursing every time they do something wrong. He seems to be trying to connect the plates and integrate them into the web of inscriptions running through the ship so they can power them while saving that bit of extra mana. I know he doesn't have much time, he can only leave the control room for so long at a time.

I find myself wondering if we shouldn't have someone strong protecting him. Sure it might seem like we got all the perpetrators but what if one happened to be hanging back?

In the end, I decide to ignore my concerns and leave a message though group 4’s new group link. I'm sure Tess is already dealing with it. Worst case I can seize control of the ship myself.

Upon reaching the backup core I meet the vyssari there, the Ashenfoot Shaman to be specific. He’s moving around, poking at the control panels and examining my modifications to the core and the anchor I left there. I give everything a quick check, finding that he doesn't seem to have made any changes, though he seems to be annoyed when he senses me looking things over.

“You formed this part wrong,” he snaps, pointing out a set of inscriptions.

“On purpose. It uses less mana that way.”

“But you completely disregarded the inscription matrix designed to amplify mana concentration. You’re also missing a failsafe sequence or an emergency dispel layer.”

“I don't know what that is.”

“You what?”

“I don't care about fancy things like that, but if you have them written down somewhere you can give them to me. It’s the least you can do for all the work I'm doing to keep this thing floating.”

“Crazy human, you’re going to blow something up one day.”

“For the most part that's the goal,” I shrug, waving a dismissive hand.

While he watches I move on to working on making smaller changes. Nothing fancy like the failsafe or the supporting whatever, he mentioned. Just backups, increasing the stability of my anchor and making it more resistant to interference.

I’m still not happy about the way those blue boys managed to mess with my anchor before.

Two hours later it's Tess visiting me down here. She glances at the vyssari sitting quietly in the corner, watching me work, and immediately proceeds to ignore him.

“We made a deal with the guys you captured. Lily restored their bodies and I gave them my word that we wouldn’t kill them if they didn’t give me a good reason. Can I rely on you to help me keep my word?”

“Yup, no problem there.”

“Thank you, Nat. They want you to be there when they start talking.”

“I just got to the fun part. Did you know this rusty thing used to be able to do loops? There’s a ‘switch’ just for that.”

“What for?” Tess seems to share my confusion.

“No idea but it's interesting that it could do it. It also used to have weapons but they’re long gone now. And If I'm correct there’s a button to make it drop all its plating.”

“Wouldn't that make us nearly defenseless against the sand? If I remember correctly these plates are what’s generating the field.”

“Exactly! I also started helping with controls and I'm in charge of proper mana redistribution. I remember laughing at them, but this ship is terribly optimized, there’s barely any automation and I think it was made that way on purpose.”

“I hate to interrupt you, but…”

“Got it, got it.” Having finished speaking to Tess, I turn to the vyssari and remind him, “Don't break anything.”

He dismisses me with a weird gesture I don’t recognize. Maybe it’s their race’s version of the middle finger?

Once again, the ship’s hallways are full of people from three different races, but this time they just let us pass. The crowns over our heads have turned out to be rather memorable making it easy for the others to identify us. And in that fashion, we reach the door to our room, our defenses untouched nearby while a few groups under the control of the man in black chainmail stand there waiting. Sophie, sensing our presence, lifts the defenses for a moment and we enter unimpeded.

Much like before everyone from group 4 is there, along with a few group leaders I haven’t bothered to remember and the blue guys I captured.

[Manabreaker - lvl ??]

[Manashroud Shaper - lvl ??]

Not gonna lie, I liked their class names before and I still do. They certainly seem to be a bit more civilized than the rest of the heretics.

Now that all their limbs have been restored they stand there surrounded by others, and yet they don't seem worried, hell they’re even smiling.

On the other hand, Lily has much shorter hair now, and while I can't see it at the moment, I think she also sacrificed a body part for more mana. She probably used [Sacrifice] to keep her mana topped up, just in case she needs it.

“I'm Dravos and this is my brother Drekar, what's your name, crazy human?” One of the blue ones says, introducing himself; they look nearly identical to each other.

“Does it matter? Just tell me what you want.”

“I thought we’d show some respect to each other. As fellows who walk the path of mana.”

“Sure. So how did you mess with my anchor?”

Someone from the people around us mumbles, “We do not have time to…” but gets interrupted by Biscuit who woofs at him in a warning. That makes the man shut up immediately and his expression as he looks at Biscuit seems to be full of fear.

Dravos lifts one hand and flicks his fingers, bringing my attention back to him, “Your anchor functions on a fixed resonance within your mana spectrum, directly linked to your signature. A slight adjustment—modifying the mana field around it to disrupt that resonance—is all it takes.”

Another hand gestures to his brother, Drekar, who nods. “We calibrated the surrounding mana flow to dampen the anchor’s resonance. Not enough to shatter it—you’d detect that—but just enough to destabilize the connection. A minor phase alignment shift, and… well, we had a pleasant surprise waiting for you.”

Dravos grins, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Of course, it’s much harder when you're dealing with someone as skilled as you, crazy human. But we couldn’t resist the challenge.”

“So you just disrupted it slightly without breaking it.”

“Crazy human, it's not that simple.”

“But that's what you did, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Got it. So what did you want to say?”

The two brothers look at each other, just as confident as before.

“We want to live, obviously,” Dravos says.

Drekar nods and says, “Dying in this shithole wasn’t part of the plan, and your group seems to be the one in charge.”

“So we have an offer for you.” Smoothly following his brother’s words, Dravos joins in.

“Just say it,” I demand, challenging them.

“So impatient.”

“We were like that once, brother.”

“Not as much as him.”

“No, not as much, but we can understand.”

“Yes, we can,” Dravos turns back to me with a big smile, “This place is called Mana Desert. Do you know what its purpose is?”

“No,” I answer honestly. I have ideas, but nothing I can be sure of.

His brother spreads all four of his arms wide and announces theatrically, “There are five unique Containment Arenas, also known as Containment Cells, within the Astral Prison. Each one is distinct, designed specifically to restrain a powerful being.”

Dravos continues, “The Mana Desert is also one of these places—a solitary confinement cell—and we’re currently approaching the Champion it holds.”

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