The Trifecta now had less than 16 hours—the length of a full golden day in Aye—to prepare for their mission into the Salt Flats. Idan's internal realization (Anchor Style) had healed his spiritual wound, but the external threats remained: the political suicide mission from Elder Kemet, the physical danger from the Rakshasha Asuras, and the energetic danger of the Iku source.
Omari Imamu, the Sanguine Cultivator, spent the morning in the sun, maximizing his melanin's absorption of cosmic energy. His Red Aura was stable and vibrant. He sat with his two fables, Kofi and Pumba, near a small grove of trees he personally maintained outside the quarter—his temporary Ranch. He used Faunapathy and Florapathy to extend his senses into the immediate environment.
"Kofi, Pumba," Omari murmured, stroking Kofi's black mane. "We go to the Salt Flats, where the plants struggle and the animals turn to shadow. I need to know the language of Iku."
Omari focused his Ase not on commanding, but on listening. Through the bare consciousness of the stone and the sentience of the deep-rooted trees, he pieced together the echoes left by the retreating Asuras and the devastating effect of the Dreadnought.
Iku's Nature: Iku is an entropic force, but it does not destroy matter; it corrupts it. Omari perceived that Iku transforms the Ase flowing through living matter into a form of unstable, dark energy that the Asuras can utilize. In the Salt Flats, the very mineral life (bare consciousness) had been turned against the surface world, acting as a passive conduit for the dark power.
The Subterranean Barrier: The Rakshasha Asuras were protecting a new, deeper access point to their subterranean world, one that was not in the natural Asura settlements. This new access point was drawing a tremendous, continuous current of corrupted Ase from a massive source.
Animal Shadow: Kofi and Pumba, through Faunapathy, described the feeling of the Salt Flats as silence. In a world where Ase makes all things conscious, the silence was absolute—life force was being violently suppressed. They warned that the natural wildlife of the Flats were not merely mutated, but shadow copies—shells filled with low-level Iku, meaning Omari's Faunakinesis would likely be ineffective against them.
"The source is new, and it is deep," Omari reported, rejoining the Trifecta. "We cannot use the animals, and the very air will try to steal your Ase, Alem. We must move quickly."
Alem: The Mystic's Craft
Alem Amari, pale and relying on his sapphire shawl Artifact, was in the corner of the room, engaged in the intricate art of Mystic forging. Since his body's residual melanin could only barely absorb cosmic energy, he was entirely dependent on external storage. The extreme exertion of using The Thrum had nearly drained his existing shawl, leaving him acutely vulnerable.
He had gathered raw materials—a piece of crystallized Lumina from condensed lightning and a length of woven copper wire from a discarded weapon construct.
"I need to bind the residual Ase of the Lumina to the copper's ability to conduct," Alem explained to Idan, his blue eyes focused on the minute task. "The shawl is for storage; this new one is for amplification and defense."
He channeled the last of his natural cosmic energy into the components, using his Blue Aura to weave the energy into a protective matrix. This was not bargaining; this was the methodical, alchemical aspect of the Mystic Role.
"The Salt Flats will drain me because I have insufficient melanin to absorb the intense golden light and recharge fast enough, and the night will be equally draining," Alem continued. "This artifact must be a shield."
He shaped the materials into a simple, thick copper wrist cuff, wrapping it with the bright Lumina crystal.
The Forged Artifact: The Vesper Cuff
The completed cuff hummed with a low, constant Blue Aura. It was designed with a dual function:
Ase Amplification: To act as a focusing lens for his weakened natural Ase, allowing his Mystic commands to resonate farther despite his low body reserves.
Iku Defense: To create a small, localized barrier of concentrated, purified Ase that would resist the entropic corrosion of the Flats, buying him precious moments to formulate a bargaining command to Aye.
Alem fastened the cuff. It was a tangible, beautiful symbol of his dependence and his will to survive the Se-ipunnu task.
"I am ready," Alem announced, standing up straighter. "We will find their new hole, and I will ask a favor of the earth to digest it."
Idan, the Warrior, nodded—ready to put his new Anchor Style to the ultimate test. Omari, the Cultivator, slung a pack of specialized bio-luminescent flora over his back—his only potential weapon in a land of shadow.
The Trifecta was prepared to descend into the cold, silent truth of the Salt Flats.