101 (II)

Feast [I]

Uva considered Valor’s words and narrowed her eyes. “When I pulled his mind together, I didn’t do so much healing as…”

“You just meshed the pieces back together, and they fused back into shape naturally,” Valor finished for her. A pause entered the conversation. Below, a massive platform rose from the ruins as Can Hu started rebuilding parts of the district. “There is only one creature I know that is capable of regenerating like that cognitively. Regenerating so perfectly and efficiently.”

Valor paused. Mostly for dramatic effect. “A Tarrasque. A remarkable and terrible creature. One that is nigh impossible to kill. No one knows where they came from, but they are considered the perfect weapons by many scholars of the field. Enduring in flesh. Hyper-resistant to magic. Mentally indestructible. The only thing that reliably works on them is Necromancy or Animancy. Anything less will enable them to regenerate and return to the fight.”

“That sounds like someone we bloody know,” Adam muttered. Are you saying that Shiv’s soul or mind literally has monster-bits inside?”

“Impossible,” Uva replied. “I would have sensed something inhuman. He is different, but he is still very much a man psychologically.”

“What about subconsciously?” Valor asked. “Instinctively. What if a man’s mind was merged with that of the great beast?”

Uva frowned at that thought. “I still do not think that is likely. I do not know if such a thing is even possible. To mix the mind of a monster with that of a man is practically guaranteed to induce psychosis and insanity rather than create something like Shiv.

“I agree,” Valor said. “There are only very few people in our world I could even remotely see capable of this. A soul is very, very hard to understand. The Animancers in the world number perhaps a few thousand at most. It is a rare skill above rare skills. And of the Master Animancers, not to speak of Heroic Animancers or higher, there are even fewer. Of course, among the Legendary Animancers, there’s only one I know of who is also a Legendary Psychomancer.”

“And who’s that?” Adam asked, thinking he already knew the answer.

“My son,” Valor rasped.

“The one who sealed you.” Adam didn’t quite know how to respond to that. Family issues aside, there was something else pulling at Adam, something else that clawed at his very emotions. “The only thing I know about Abyssal Lord Udraal Thann is that my father supposedly bested and slew him during the war.”

Valor let out a sigh. “Embellishments, falsehoods, and missing information. Your father likely destroyed a vessel he had at most. My son has many vessels. His mastery of the dichotomous soul is second only to mine, but perhaps not anymore. He did manage to trap me, after all.”

“So, if that’s the case, then the ritual of Shiv’s birth… could have involved him, somehow?” Adam asked. His veins were flowing with blood. There was a tightness in his chest that he didn’t enjoy.

“My heart compels me to say no,” Valor said quietly. “But I cannot think of someone else that could modify a mind and soul this way. I cannot remember, Adam. I cannot remember. I am sorry. The answers… My power… My skills… Once, I could have given you answers. I am sorry.”

“It’s fine, Valor,” Adam said. He channeled a bit more of his Righteous Dawn Prevails into Valor as the skeleton started shivering in the air. “We’ll put you back together. And then you’ll be able to reveal to us more horrifying truths that will leave me shaken and disturbed.”

Valor was about to say something when there came a ripple at the Abyssal Gateway. Someone was right outside. Actually, a lot of someones were right outside. Adam cast his Awareness toward the horizon and drove it through the gate. There, he found his Seer of Horizons pressed up against Shiv’s big, stupid grin. Behind him, a flood of darkness hid whatever massive thing Shiv was dragging behind him. The Gate Lord rolled his eyes. “Ah. I think Shiv has finally returned with a solution to our food problem.”

“What did he bring?” Uva asked.

“I’m not sure. He had his Creeping Void active.” Adam narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Uva replicated the exact same expression. “Why do I have a feeling we are both about to be unpleasantly surprised by whatever he captured?”

Adam signed. “Because it’s Shiv. I also expect us to end up loving whatever dish he makes from it.”

The two shared a mutual look of resignation. “Send him through. Let us see what horrible delicacies we are to indulge.”

A ripple of Dimensionality mana pulsed around the Abyssal Gateway as it came alive fully. The first thing that came through was Shiv. The next thing was a massive tentacle. A tentacle that just kept going and going and going…

“Oh, Composer,” Uva moaned, clutching her head. “Please, Composer. No.”

“What?” Adam asked.

“I think I recognized those tentacles. Shiv…” She hissed, like a mother stressed to the breaking point by a naughty child. “I swear if… Composer’s Broken Strings…”

And then the rest of the giant monster came into view.

The thing Shiv dragged in was huge. Larger than even the Recollector. Four kilometers long, with tendrils and bones sticking out from its gigantic, fleshy body. Pods lined its underside, and a sloped, axe-shaped head with clustering eyes was at its front. And then Adam narrowed his focus and cast his Awareness towards the creature. He noticed about two hundred Arachnae Sisters and Weaveresses standing on its back. Ikki was at the front, cheering Shiv on. There was also a shattered bridge window just on top of the creature’s skull, and—Adam did a double-take at what looked to be a vampire sitting there.

And then Adam kept staring at the vampire, at his ridiculously silky hair, at his porcelain features, at his—

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“God’s dammit!” The Gate Lord tore his Awareness back. “Uva. Shiv might be mind-controlled by a vampire.”

“I sure hope he is,” Uva muttered under her breath. She was covering her face at this point. “If not, I need him to explain to me why he thought anyone could eat a Court Leviathan.”

“Because it’s Shiv, and he’ll find a way to make it taste good?” Adam replied.

Uva frowned. “This time… I have my doubts.”

He raised an eyebrow. “How much do you want to bet against him?”

Uva stopped talking.

***

A Veilpiercer crashed lightly into Shiv’s forehead. He just chuckled. “Oh, hey guys,” Shiv gasped as he saw Uva, Valor, and Adam emerge from the dimensional pathway. All of them were staring at him and his new pet in disbelief. “I got us some dinner.” He gestured at the Court Leviathan.

A long sigh slipped out of Uva. She rubbed her face. “Shiv…“

“It’s meat, Sister Uva.” Ikki cackled aloud on the back. “He called it meat. Ethically sourced meat.”

“Shiv…” Uva moaned.

The grin on Shiv’s face grew. “It’s got good regeneration. And also, one of your Biomancers,” he gestured at a Weaveress who waved back at him, “managed to get the thing to stop spewing out plagues all the time. Which is great for you guys, but not so good for me because they tasted pretty good.”

“They what?” Adam said, leaning in closer. Uva was too busy muttering to herself.

“The plagues, diseases, viruses, and nerve-stuff. It tasted good. I got a buzz from drinking that up. Hells, it even made me stronger and faster.”

“Shiv…” Adam’s jaw quivered. “What the felling shit are you talking about?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention the new Master-Tier Skill I got,” Shiv said almost innocently. “It’s called Plaguefueled. Yeah. A bit of missing context. Sorry. Anyway, it lets me absorb diseases and treat them like alcoholic magical steroids.”

“Shiv, I’m going to kill you.”

“That’ll just give me another Master-Tier Skill eventually.”

“I’ll use Necromancy.”

“That’ll kill you and everyone else too.”

“Worth it.”

“My Woundeater might reach Heroic soon too…”

Adam shot the Deathless in the face again. Without any mana infusion, the arrow did little more than skip off Shiv’s forehead and make him laugh. “Gods, you are obnoxious sometimes.”

Shiv shrugged. “You can’t blame me for wanting to have a bit of fun.”

“We can blame you for bringing us this…” Adam looked at Uva. “What is this thing again?”

“A Court Leviathan,” she said wearily. “It’s something that is used to carry thousands of vampires.” Then, her expression froze. “And it might have transported the First Blood army earlier. The one that attacked Gate Theborn. Shiv… Where did you find this thing?”

“Out in the wilderness while exploring,” he said. He looked behind him and pointed to Angelo. “I came upon this poor bastard getting his core cut out by the other vampires. Turns out he’s rogue, he’s got—well, he had a town. First Blood did some stuff to the people there.” Shiv’s amusement flattened into a haunted look.

Uva’s bafflement faded, and she gave him a nod. “I understand. Did you bury them?”

“Cremated.”

“Good. It spares their bodies further misuse. The First Blood cares little for the sanctity of the dead. But this rogue vampire…”

“You can scan his mind if you want,” Shiv said. “Outside Context Problem showed me a bit of his past. I didn’t like what I saw.”

“Not surprising,” Uva replied. “The Bloodspawn learn to abuse and mistreat the world from their sires firsthand.” Still, she clearly didn’t trust Angelo. The other Umbrals and Weaveresses were the same way. Shiv guessed that would take a bit of getting used to, but so far, Angelo was just content to stay quiet and keep to himself within the ruined, shattered bridge of the leviathan.

“So,” Shiv said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s get this started.”

“Get what started?” Adam asked, sounding exhausted. “Shiv… You said it carried plagues earlier.”

Shiv’s eyes lit up at that. “I almost forgot, I think I can cookthose too!”

“Plagues?” Adam muttered.

“Plagues?” Uva repeated, incredulous.

“It is… strange, but possible,” Valor said.

Shiv just kept nodding. “They lit up before me. They were white. That means they’re ingredients. That means The Chef Unwavering works on them.”

“Shiv,” Uva began, her breath catching in her throat. “It’s not that I doubt your cooking—”

Shiv crossed his arms in pretend offense. “It sounds like you doubt my cooking.”

“—But this thing is not edible. It’s a biological weapon mixed with a transport ship.”

“Have you tried it?”

“No, Shiv, I have not tried eating a Court Leviathan,” Uva replied, exasperated. “No Sister or Weaveress will be mad or foolish enough to do such a thing.”

“I’ll eat it!” Ikki called from behind. Shiv’s grin grew to absurd proportions. “If Shiv cooks it, I’ll eat anything!”

Uva narrowed her eyes. “That girl is going to die.”

“Or she’ll get regeneration and Disease Resistance boosts. Or something.” Shiv smirked.

“No, Shiv, I meant that I was going to kill her for making me look stupid. But yes, she is also likely going to catch a plague and die.”

“I don’t like the doubt, Uva,” Shiv said, pulling out his chef’s knife and spinning it between his fingers. “And I intend to prove you wrong.”

She sighed. “Shiv…”

“You are going to love this,” Shiv said. “All of you—oh, shit, um… Sorry, Valor.”

“No. For once, I am more curious if you can truly make this into food rather than desiring its potential taste.” Valor hummed. “This is a worthwhile experiment.”

“Only because you can’t get sick, you bastard,” Adam hissed.

“Yes,” Valor said. “Which is why I’m not worried at all. So. By all means, Shiv.”

Slowly, the Deathless turned as he laughed evilly at the Court Leviathan. “Alright, Courtney.”

“Courtney?” Adam gasped. “You named it Courtney?”

Shiv ignored him and continued chuckling. “I just need some meat from you. And some plagues. And a contained environment to work in. Maybe close to the Abyssal Gateway. Hmm. Those ruins might make a good frying pan. Someone call Can Hu. I need a large kitchen. And assistants.” He froze, then regarded Adam and Uva.

“Shiv…” Uva exhaled.

“No,” Adam whimpered.

“It’s for the greater good of the gate,” Shiv said. “And besides. You might get a Cooking Skill from this.”

The two looked at each other. Shiv kept staring at them, smile locked tight on his face.

Uva folded first. “Fine. Only to make sure you don’t end up gassing the entire gate.”

“I just might,” Shiv said, staring at his own triumphant reflection in Halspur’s Perfect-Edged Chef’s Knife. “I’ll gas you all with flavor.”

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