⫸ [ TIME: 13:15 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: SECTOR 4 – THE THERMAL VENT ]
⫸ [ STATUS: NEGOTIATION ]
The silence in the volcanic amphitheater was heavy. It was broken only by the hiss of the geothermal vent and the hum of the Fabricator's cooling fans.
Gha-Kull, the Leader of the Deep-Kin, stood rubbing his chest where Grom's shield had impacted. He looked at the grey-skinned Giant. He looked at the strange, skeletal machine on the sled.
"YOU SPEAK OF TRADE," Gha-Kull rumbled. "BUT YOU BRING WARRIORS."
"I bring insurance," Elian said. He stepped forward, lowering the railgun but keeping his finger near the trigger guard. "I do not want war, Master Dwarf. War is inefficient. It wastes calories. It wastes metal."
Elian gestured to the pile of crude iron pickaxes the Deep-Kin were using. They were pitted, heavy, and unbalanced.
"Your tools," Elian said. "They are cast iron. Brittle. Heavy. You spend thirty percent of your energy just lifting the swing."
Gha-Kull scowled. "IT IS THE WAY OF STONE. METAL MUST BE BEATEN."
"Metal must be understood," Elian corrected.
He turned to the Fabricator sled. He connected the power coupling to the thermal vent's output using a scavenged induction coil. The machine chirped. The status light turned green.
"Grom, give me a scrap plate."
Grom handed him a rusted piece of hull plating from the sled. Elian fed it into the hopper.
"A.R.C.," Elian commanded. "Scan their pickaxe. Optimize the geometry. Reduce mass by 40%. Add a honeycomb internal lattice for shock absorption. Sharpen the edge to a mono-molecular point."
[ Processing... ]
[ Design complete. Initiating Laser Sintering. ]
The Fabricator hummed. The laser head danced.
The Deep-Kin watched in stunned silence. They were smiths who worshipped fire and hammer. To them, seeing metal grow from nothing in a flash of blue light was not engineering. It was a miracle.
In five minutes, it was done.
Elian pulled the new pickaxe head from the tray. It was silver-grey titanium alloy. It was sleek.
He tossed it to Gha-Kull.
The Dwarf caught it. His eyes widened. It was light as a feather but felt harder than diamond.
"WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?"
"Not sorcery," Elian said. "Science. Thermodynamics. Geometry."
Gha-Kull swung the pickaxe at a basalt boulder.
CRACK.
The rock didn't just break. It split cleanly in half. The tool did not chip.
The Deep-Kin murmured. They looked at their own tools with disdain.
"YOU CAN MAKE MORE?" Gha-Kull asked, his greed warring with his pride.
"I can re-equip your entire clan," Elian said. "In exchange for two things."
He held up two fingers.
"One. I use this vent to charge my batteries."
"Two. You give me the Void-Steel."
Gha-Kull's face fell. The greed vanished, replaced by a deep, simmering anger. He pointed to the massive iron collars around the necks of his kin.
"WE CANNOT GIVE THE VOID-METAL. IT IS FORBIDDEN."
Elian walked closer. He inspected the collar.
It was not a simple lock. It was etched with glowing crimson runes. The metal seemed to pulse with a low, throbbing heat.
"A control collar," Elian noted. "Slavery with a kill-switch."
"It is the Blood-Bind," Disciple Lin whispered from behind him. She looked terrified. "The Golden Crow Sect placed it. If they try to steal the Void-Steel, the collar heats up. It burns the head from the shoulders."
Elian activated his visor's Spectral Analysis. He zoomed in on the runes.
To Lin, it was a curse.
To Elian, it looked familiar.
The glowing lines of the rune acted as pathways. Energy flowed from a central crystal (Power Source) through the etched channels (Conductors) and looped back to a trigger mechanism.
"It's a circuit," Elian realized. "It's a printed circuit board for biological energy."
[ Commander. I am detecting a data pattern in the energy flow. ]
[ The runes are not random. They are instructions. ]
[ "If [Void-Steel] moves > [Distance X] then [Ignite]." ]
[ It is a logical syntax. ]
Elian looked at Gha-Kull.
"These runes... do you know how to write them?"
"NO," Gha-Kull spat. "IT IS THE ART OF THE SKY-DEVILS. WE ONLY KNOW THE ART OF THE MOUNTAIN."
The Dwarf ripped open his tunic.
On his chest, scarred into his grey skin, was a different set of glowing lines. These were amber, pulsing with the slow rhythm of the earth.
"THIS IS OUR WAY. THE 'IRON-SKIN' SCRIPT. IT MAKES US HARD. BUT IT CANNOT BREAK THE FIRE."
Elian stared at the Dwarf's chest.
The amber lines followed the muscle groups. They reinforced the skeletal structure.
"A.R.C.," Elian said, his voice tight with excitement. "Scan that chest. Scan every line. Every node."
[ Scanning... ]
[ Pattern Recognition: Biological Reinforcement Algorithm. ]
[ It directs ambient Aether into the epidermis to increase tensile strength. ]
[ It is essentially a "Driver Update" for the skin. ]
◤ TECHNIQUE ACQUIRED ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Name: The Iron-Skin Scripture (Deep-Kin Variant)
⬢ Type: Body Refining / Passive Defense
⬢ Effect: Increases Dermal Density by 300%
⬢ Requirement: Earth-Attribute Spirit Root (Missing)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Elian smiled. It was the smile of a hacker who had just found the source code.
"I can't use it yet," Elian whispered. "I don't have the hardware (Spirit Root). But I have the software."
He looked at Gha-Kull.
"I can't break these collars today," Elian lied. He needed to keep them dependent. "But I can trick them."
"Trick?" Gha-Kull asked.
"The collar tracks the Void-Steel," Elian said. "It senses the specific magnetic signature of the ore. If I change the signature... the collar stays asleep."
He turned to the Fabricator.
"A.R.C., can we alter the crystalline lattice of the Void-Steel during the refining process? Shift the magnetic resonance?"
[ Affirmative. If we super-cool the metal during extrusion, we can invert its polarity. ]
[ To the sensor array in the collar, it will look like common iron. ]
Elian turned back to the Dwarf Leader.
"I will refine the metal for you," Elian said. "I will make it invisible to your masters. You give me half. You keep half to build weapons for your rebellion."
Gha-Kull looked at the pickaxe in his hand. He looked at the glowing collar around his neck. Then he looked at Elian.
For the first time, the Dwarf smiled. It was full of jagged teeth.
"A DEAL, IRON-DEMON. WE WILL FEED YOUR MACHINE."
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 16:00 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ STATUS: CHARGING ]
The camp was set.
The Fabricator was humming, drawing megawatts of power from the thermal vent. The battery indicators on the Horizon Seeker's cells were climbing slowly.
15%... 18%... 20%...
Elian sat on a rock, looking at his datapad.
On the screen was the 3D scan of Gha-Kull's chest tattoos.
"A.R.C., overlay this pattern onto my own nervous system."
[ Overlaying... ]
[ Warning. Your meridians do not match the Deep-Kin physiology. ]
[ If you attempt to channel energy through this pattern, you will rupture your arteries. ]
"I know," Elian said. "I'm not going to channel it. I'm going to print it."
He zoomed in on the nodes.
"These runes act as capacitors. These lines are conductors. I don't need a Spirit Root to grow them. I have the Thermal-Lattice."
"When we get back to the ship," Elian planned, "I am going to etch this circuit directly into my new skin using the laser scalpel. I will wire it into the suit's power supply."
[ You intend to create a synthetic cultivation technique? ]
"Evolution is too slow," Elian said, closing the pad. "I prefer upgrades."
Suddenly, the ground shook.
Not a tremor. A specific, rhythmic thud.
Lin gasped. She pointed to the sky.
High above the ash clouds, three streaks of fire were descending. They were moving fast. They were riding on discs of burning light.
"SOLAR GLIDERS," Lin screamed. "THE GOLDEN CROWS HAVE FOUND US!"
◤ THREAT DETECTED ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Subject: Golden Crow Patrol (3 Units)
⬢ Capability: Flight / Pyromancy
⬢ Aggression: Extreme
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Elian stood up. He grabbed The Arbiter. He checked the battery. 100%.
"They saw the heat drop," Elian realized. "We drained the vent too fast."
He racked the bolt.
"Grom! Shield wall! Protect the machine!"
The fire in the sky grew brighter. The first fireball was already falling toward them.
[END OF CHAPTER 21]