Pellex rushed down the corridor after the arder, cradling a bundle of weapons, the armory guard following close behind with the rest of the functioning armaments. The pirate lieutenant hadn’t stayed around long enough to answer any questions after bursting into the room, resulting in the mad dash through the halls. Pellex’s mind was racing with possibilities, and he wasn’t sure what to expect. Were detachments of the city guard appearing in airships? Peacejoined Enforcers using a portal to stage a raid? Out here on the edge of the Scourge, maybe a monster horde. Pellex considered quite a few options, but when he followed the silver-ranked arder through a door and outside of the mountain, onto the airship landing platform, he realized just how far off he had been.

A gigantic spherical matrix of black tar stood above the mountains in the distance, supported by dozens of inky tendrils, picking their way across the spindly peaks. A green crystal cube hung, floating, in the center of the hexagonally gridded sphere of dark liquid, and when Pellex saw it, a notification pushed its way into the corner of his vision.

Julvrae, Dark [Ulvis]

The Mountain Shatterer

Phi: 12,371/13,294

Thi: 682/685

Sci: 34/34

The shock of realization hit Pellex like a bear. Zolnre wasn’t right next to the Scourge, but it was pretty close, close enough that it wasn’t only adventurers making the trip. Scholars and scientists visited the Scourge regularly to document the creatures that spawned there, and their findings were often released publicly. Pellex had once picked up a book detailing a few of the Scourge’s worst monsters, and he distinctly remembered a point where he had been relieved by the fact he would never, ever get anywhere near a Scourge [Ulvis]. Normally found near natural wellsprings of power, [Ulvis] were kind guardians of those places, fairly weak, but frightening in appearance and exhibiting a dangerous intelligence when provoked. Scourge [Ulvis] were born from the Epicenter, the raging mass of power left over from the Scourge’s creation. There were other creatures spawned by that chaos, but [Ulvis] were certainly the worst. Their kind, protective nature corrupted into a burning rage against all who trespassed in the Scourge, swollen to monstrous size by the experience of the hundreds of beasts they killed, Scourge [Ulvis] were only suffered to exist because, thanks to a remnant of their true nature, they could not leave the Scourge, and they regularly flushed out bandit gangs who attempted to hide there. Much like what was happening right now, Pellex thought, watching the towering abomination grow closer.

Glancing back from the impending doom on the horizon, Pellex watched the many arders populating the platform. He had seen them when he first came out, but he had been distracted, and after he had seen the [Ulvis], he had assumed they were all preparing for evacuation. Now that he was focusing on them, he realized that they were gearing up for a fight. The weapons Pellex had brought were being distributed amongst the arders by some system Pellex couldn’t discern, mages were readying their skills, and some phi-foundation arders were readying gigantic bows. Despite all of the action, the scene was eerily silent. Silver-ranked arders would occasionally shout to one another, but the bronzes worked without making a sound, and the [Ulvis] was tiptoeing from mountaintop to mountaintop with the grace of a Toklok-trained ballet dancer. Pellex had no idea how they planned to defeat the [Ulvis]. Theoretically, its phi reserves weren’t too impressive, but Pellex’s idle knowledge said that it was nearly impossible to hit, thanks to its fluid nature, and no-one with the proper skills had killed one yet, so the public figure for its endurance was a crude estimate derived from questionable numbers.

With no idea what he was supposed to do, Pellex shrugged to himself and started moving across the platform, trying to find a place from which to observe the [Ulvis] more closely. Getting an opportunity to observe one of these was a rare opportunity for anyone, let alone himself. His experiences with monsters were fairly tame – the standard first year of school trip so that the group of 4-year-olds could each kill a low-level [Amalgamation], a few hunting trips with some friends as a teenager in the publicly accessible parts of the sewers, and, most recently, a safari with his college’s biology and fencing classes, both of which he had been a member of. It had seemed like an odd combo at first, but the beasts were certainly easier to study after they’d participated in fencing practice.

The [Ulvis] was an interesting subject of comparison with those more common monsters – it was more geometric, more refined, in some ways. Monsters were usually created when a more ordinary creature was exposed to a certain type of power in a certain way. Dogs would become [Rockhounds] if exposed to rki, stone eli, in large amounts over a long period of time, but the younger, the greater and faster the transition, and there were several variations caused by even more specific circumstances, like [Geodogs], whose ordinary [Rockhound] exterior concealed a hollow interior lined with valuable phi-attuned crystals. Some creatures of the wild were many, many generations removed from their original form, if that original form even still existed. Others were horrifying chimeras from a mad [Biocrafter]’s experimentation, or former sapients twisted by some vast power, whether in death or in life.

[Ulvis], however, among a select few others, had absolutely no basis outside of power. Power congregating would, by its very nature, begin to form them out of some unknowable pattern it contained. It made sense that their physical form reflected their eerie origins. They were very clearly not the product of nature, and used power far more freely, its functions being entwined with their being. The dark tar Julvrae was currently using as tentacles was, for lack of better phrasing, [Ulvis] answer to everything but the brain, which function was performed by the crystalline cube floating at the monster’s center. Taking this opportunity to use one of his new abilities, Pellex activated [Runesight], and the beast’s core instantly burst into radiance, its light rivalling that of the sun. Caught off guard, Pellex threw a hand up and instinctively shut off his skill, but it was as the books said. The [Ulvis] was a far more advanced version of a standard runic construct, having moved beyond following a few basic commands to something nearing sapience. The cube at its core not only could think, but used unimaginably complex runechains to handle the production and manipulation of its black liquid skin.

It had other runechains, too, none of which had yet been deciphered, but what they allowed the [Ulvis] to do was well known. The advanced runes allowed the [Ulvis] to be far more dangerous than just a slimy land squid, giving it abilities like… Pellex looked back up. The creature was far closer than it had been, and, as he watched, it seemed to grow smaller, its legs becoming shorter, and even more spindly, as dozens of little balls of [Ulvis] tar spun across the mountains towards Julian’s Court.

The arders noticed as well, and the formation they had been carefully preparing fell apart in seconds, bandits moving to the edge of the platform to get shots off at the whirring slimes. Not being natural creatures, [Ulvis] couldn’t access the System, but some of their runechains were patterned such that they worked like skills. This one in particular was especially powerful, similar to some of the higher tier skills, in that it used both phi and thi to grant parts of the [Ulvis]’s mass the ability to move independently, following the orders of their parent until they were reabsorbed or died. Scourge [Ulvis] used the skill to wear down prey, but monsters typically couldn’t cast [Thi Disruption]. Right on cue, an arder stood up and began chanting, his apparently high-rank [Words of Power] skill letting him strengthen the effect of his ability to a dramatic extent.

As the first of the fiends rolled onto the platform, the pirate mage finished his chant on a resounding command, and a wave of power rippled out from him. The faint, greenish aura roared across the platform and into the surrounding mountains, sweeping over the tarry slimes. Whenever it hit one of the [Ulvis]’ spawn, that ball would deflate, the material that constituted its body simply refusing to remain cohesive. Pellex quickly realized that he had guessed wrong; He had expected [Thi Disruption], but the arder had used [Phi Disruption], a much rarer skill, both higher-tier and of less tactical value. It worked well in this instance, though, and, much closer now, the [Ulvis] tried to withdraw its spawn before the wave reached it. A few made it back in time, but most were caught outside when the wave of magic slammed into the [Ulvis]. The telekinetic rock simply ignored the blast, pushing through and heading towards the camp with increased vigor.

At this point, Pellex was eager to leave, but despite their more pressing concerns, the bandits had no interest in letting prisoners escape into their tangled maze of a complex, leaving a guard at the entrance to the mountain to prevent any of the prisoners, whether Pellex or a slave from the knotted groups of beaten-down people huddling in less visible places, from leaving the platform. With nowhere to go, Pellex ducked behind a pile of crates, and watched as the Scourge [Ulvis] got closer.

It happened faster than Pellex expected. One moment the [Ulvis] was still reasonably distant, the next, with a green nimbus fuzzing around its limbs, it was looming over the compound, arders were firing like madmen, and power was being used so quickly as to make the air warp and shimmer with warglow. One of the airships, sporting heavily armed arders leaning out of the windows, attempted to ascend, but was swatted out of the sky by a massive black tentacle. It was far worse than Pellex had anticipated. The monster blotted out the sun, despite its constant movement as it tried to murder every single living person on the ridge. The tentacles were as big as tree trunks, and those that weren’t occupied holding the monster up were busy tearing the platform to shreds.

Spamming [Foresight] as fast as the skill would let him, Pellex saw one of the tentacles sweeping towards him and dove out of the way, the appendage following the vision a few seconds later. His former cover exploded as the tentacle smashed through it, and Pellex quickly looked for a new box pile, more for protection against stray bullets than from the [Ulvis]. Pellex tried to slow his breathing, and, as the initial rush from the attack faded away, slowed down his [Foresight] use. He was loath to do it, but his thi reserves just weren’t big enough, even with their recent expansion.

Still keeping a half-eye on the near future, Pellex crept around the platform, trying to ignore the screams of agony, bursts of gunfire, and the glow of magic filling the air around him. Looking around, he noticed that the door guard had joined the fight, and started to pick his way over. Halfway to escape, he remembered the dozens of other prisoners still on the battlefield, most of them far more hampered than him. He wasn’t much use to anyone if he died, but despite having to throw himself flat to avoid a piece of shrapnel [Foresight] showed him, he wasn’t actually that frightened. He had the skills to survive this, and the [Ulvis]’ attention was elsewhere. With a quick use of [Locate], Pellex found the closest pair of manacles and changed course.

Crawling around the pile of boxes, Pellex came upon three captives. The first two, an older man, with a bald head and a salt and pepper beard, and a younger woman, who, other than her chestnut hair, resembled the old man, were simply gagged. The third, a middle-aged woman, a bit lighter-skinned than most, with piercing eyes that glowed yellow from heavy thi use, also had the enchanted manacles Pellex had detected. Pellex ungagged them, and after they all thanked him, the man spoke up.

“You’re a prisoner as well, I assume?”

“Yeah, the name’s Pellex. None of you are injured or anything, right? The door’s unguarded, and I’d prefer to be inside the complex before the [Ulvis] runs out of things to hit.”

“Well, thank you again, Pellex. I’m Refos, and this is my daughter Ucria. No injuries, thank Proctis.”

“And I’m Evwel,” the manacled woman said. “I’m good too, other than these manacles.”

“Oh, forgot about those,” Pellex said, activating [Metalshape] and ripping the links apart like putty. “Really lovely meeting you all, but it is probably best to go.”

Nodding in agreement, the three followed Pellex to the entrance. Finding no-one inside, they slipped into the complex, making their way through the tangled hallways. After a minute of careful wandering, they heard footsteps in the distance, and ducked into one of the odd rooms. Taking the opportunity to rest for a bit, Pellex pulled up Julvrae’s stats again.

Julvrae, Dark [Ulvis]

The Mountain Shatterer

Phi: 10,061/13,294

Thi: 326/685

Sci: 29/34

Maybe the arders would get wiped out, and they’d be able to just… walk away. Pellex didn’t think that would be the case, though. Sure enough, each of the four escapees perked up as they heard what sounded like stone shattering from the direction of the platform. A few moments later, Julian’s voice, far more powerful than he had let show in Pellex’s meeting, resounded through the halls with a mighty roar. There was a thunderous explosion, and shortly after, a horrifying screech, like two rough rocks scraping the strings of a violin tightened to its limits, grinding through the caverns. Pellex brought up the notification again, and wasn’t disappointed.

Julvrae, Dark [Ulvis]

The Mountain Shatterer

Phi: 8,295/13,294

Thi: 324/685

Sci: 29/34

Just as he finished reading it, the window vanished, and Pellex knew why. Scourge [Ulvis], in quite unnatural behavior for their kind, could and would run away from significant threats, and apparently, Julian had qualified. Pellex shuddered, and hoped that Julian would think that he had died. The [Ulvis] had been terrible enough, and it hadn’t even been targeting him. Pellex never wanted to find out what it meant to be truly hunted by a monster.