NBB2 - The Chaos Rifts - chapter 17

A soft ping drew Solus from the black nothing. A headache was hammering his skull. Staying still, he took a careful breath to see how hot the air was. It wasn't painful, at least no more than just lying on the ground was. His back was a dull throbbing mass, one of the many parts of his body trying to get his attention that way. Of more immediate worry to him was the crust of something that covered part of his head and his eyes, preventing him from opening them. After a moment of struggling to raise his head, something cracked, and part of what bound it fell away.

He tried to sit up, but his left arm wouldn't budge. Using the one he could move, he felt around his head. A thick layer of a hard, brittle material covered his forehead and eyes. Scratching with his fingers, he began peeling it off until he managed to crack his eyes open.

He saw nothing, not even the familiar green glow of stone around him- just blackness. Probing around his other arm, he touched more of the same material and began breaking it off. Although it snapped almost as easy as rock, it took a while. When he finally ripped his arm free, he managed to push himself into a sitting position.

He started touching all around, and he could feel he was still in the tunnel he barely remembered making. It was small, just a bit wider than he was long.

A soft ping drew his attention. He blinked, and he realized his status had been pinging for a very long time. Calling it increased his headache, but as the blue rectangle hovered in front of his face, he felt slightly better.

Until he read the messages.

> Minimum requirement met

> New evolutionary options added

> Warning!

> Energy levels dangerously low

> Mana levels below safety threshold

>Going in low-energy modus to prevent malfunction.

> ERROR

> ERROR

> Manafield mana depleted, death imminent

> Two hours three minutes remaining

> Shutting down

> …

"Bloody fantastic…"

He grumbled as he closed the window. He sensed along his waist, hoping there was still an orb left that he had forgotten. Touching his grey flesh, he cursed. The stone armor was gone and with it the waste container.

Getting up was a chore, and not having sight didn't make things easier. Even his stone-sense was unresponsive, and fear trickled up slowly.

He was blind and disintegrating in a cave deep in the ground.

"At least I am not ended yet..." he said as he suppressed the fear.

The low rumbling of his voice echoed through the tunnel. Dust and small bits of stone fell, raining on him.

He had to get out of this tunnel before the lava managed to eat through the stone above him. Touching a random location on the wall, he drew back his fist and struck forward as hard as he could. A bout of weakness made him stumble, but the rock crumbled as a boom resonated through the tunnel. More dust fell, together with some larger debris.

Carefully extending his arms, he scanned the wall. His punch had created an opening ahead of him, large enough to enter but too small to stand. He stumbled across the stone on the ground and crawled inside. Feeling the wall with his hand, he steeled himself: another punch, another hole in front of him, and another dizzy spell. The stone rubble was clogging up the area, and he shoved it out and into the tunnel, his arms feeling heavy.

This is going to take a while, he thought and sighed. He ignored the fact that he had no idea where he was going or that he only had a few hours remaining and struck again.

Strike, dizzy, rest, clear rubble. In the darkness of the rock he usually loved, Solus continued forward. Without the timer, he had no idea how much time he had left, and he tried to increase his speed.

When the rest between punches had turned from one moment to many, he felt something. The stone below him rumbled slightly. Placing his hands on the floor, he focused, trying to keep his flagging mind from shutting down.

He wasn't sure what it was, but it was coming from below. Drawing a few dusty breaths, he sat on his knees and punched the ground. A loud crack came from the rock as it splintered and then weightlessness.

He fell straight down, stone all around him, and the muted sounds of the small tunnel changed. Deep echoes and rumblings as if he was in an enormous open space. Soft dripping and hissing sounded from one side, and the temperature increased sharply.

Putting his arms around his head and his knees against his elbows, he made himself as small as possible. He counted to twenty when he slammed into the ground. A soft snap from his arm and a sharp pain told him he had broken something. At the same time, he felt his mind go groggy.

Still conscious, he thought with some relief. If he had blacked out, he'd never wake up again. As he lay there, he felt repeated tremors run through the stone.

Staying perfectly still, he tried to find where they came from. A heavy thudding, accompanied by loud booms as if something was walking around. Or hitting something… It wasn't very close yet.

I wish I could see, he thought. Weary anger flared up, causing another dizzy spell. Shoving the frustration away, he took a deep breath of the pungent, warm air. Feeling the dizzyness reside, he climbed out of the pit and sat down.

Thinking was hard, his mind sluggish and tired. Still, he knew the sound could be an undead, perhaps one of those black lava beings? If he could get a mana-orb, no matter how small, he might get his vision back and locate more things to hunt. But could he even end whatever it was that was stomping? He couldn't see it! He would need to get it close enough for him to grab it.

The thudding stopped, the sudden silence jarring him. Turning his head around as he listened, he stopped when a hot wind blew across his face.

"Fooooood."

He sucked in a breath when an odd, gurgling voice came from right in front of him. Sticking his hand, he grabbed only air.

Bile and blood, he cursed. It was a projected voice!

"Foooood?" Dozens of voices came from everywhere, and the heavy thudding returned, but this time something had changed. It was heading towards him.

Scrambling back, as fast as his broken body would let him, Solus collided with something hard and the pain in his back intensified.

A whooshing sound came from the side, and he barely managed to raise his arms in defense. Something struck them heavily, pushing his arms back. His hands slammed against his head, and he didn't get a chance to grab whatever it was that hit him.

Hearing more whooshing sounds, he quickly raised his arms as something began pounding his body. Every time he tried to grab at it, he was too late, his movement slow and sluggish. He needed to do something! Angry at his inability to see or grab his assailant, he roared as loud as he could. The sound rolled away from him, echoing around. Cracking and crumbling sounds came from the ceiling high above. A moment later, things started striking the ground everywhere, small bits hitting him.

"Angrryyy fooooood?" The voice sounded from further away, and he realized he must have blown it away.

A tingling sensation came from his fingers, and he couldn't feel the tips anymore.

Out of time!

He groaned, imagining the thing pummeling him until he didn't move anymore and ripping his mana-orb from his skull. Would this be the end? He was so weary he barely felt afraid and was about to just lay down when an idea popped into his mind. Exhaling loudly, he groaned and let his body fall on its side, one hand close to his head, the other beside his chest. He shivered a few times, then stayed motionless.

This time he could hear faint movement accompany the thudding as something moved closer. Solus didn't move, waiting for the thing to get closer. Something struck his chest, but he remained still. He held his breath and kept his eyes closed.

"Fooood?" The voice gurgled, and then another blow struck him in the head. It took all his effort not to groan or try to grab the thing. More blows followed, but half-hearted, and they soon stopped.

"Food!" The gurgling voice said happily as if sure of something now. A soft scrape came from beside Solus, and then something gripped the sides of his head.

Got yah! Solus thought, moving as fast as his sluggish body would allow. He snatched for the thing with the hand beside his head, and this time he gripped something that felt like an arm.

"Foooood angry, food angry!"

The gurgling voice cried, and whatever he held began struggling like crazy. Something hit his head, and he grabbed the arm with both hands and began drawing it closer. The thing's struggles increased, and when Solus got to a shoulder, it started howling and keening.

Ignoring the sound, Solus grabbed what he hoped was a neck and squeezed. It felt like squeezing a piece of old-world metal, and his tingling hands barely had any strength.

He had to rip the head off of this thing!

"Foood angryyyy!" The voice screamed, and hands clutched at Solus' wrists while others struck his body.

Solus didn't care. His mind was clouded, and all he wanted now was to end this thing, rip its skull open, and absorb its mana orb. Slowly he felt his fingers squeeze the neck tight. Feeling a slight leeway, he wrung the neck sideways.

There was a loud snap and then a soft hiss. A stinking waft of air surrounded him. Struggling closer, Solus wrapped his legs around the thing, keeping one hand around its neck as he groped its head.

Some type of fleshy undead, bald, and with large ears, he thought.

Grabbing the side, he switched his grip so that he had both hands around the skull and began squeezing. His weak fingers didn't manage to crack the skull. Stretching his arm out, he groped around until he located a large piece of rock and began bashing the head. It took a few hits, but finally, it cracked. Ripping open the wound, he stuck his hand in the skull, searching through the soft muck inside until he felt the edged hardness of an orb. Without bothering to take it out, he started absorbing it, his fist inside the other's skull.

A tiny trickle of energy flowed inside his body, dispersing everywhere before any could reach his manafield. Savoring the sensation, he lay down, still hugging the thing.

Although it was a small orb, fitting easily in his hand,  the tiny stream of energy continued to flow for a long time. Eventually, some of the energy reached his mana-field, and the darkness around him receded. A blurry image began forming- rock, soft green glowing rock, and a red glow from the side. His rock-sense returned with a snap, and he felt a massive amount of stone surrounding him.

A string of sharp pings came in rapid succession. Summoning his status window, he hoped it wouldn't be another unwelcome surprise.

> Rebooting…

> … … …….. ..

The pings came every time a dot appeared and lasted until a new line showed up.

> Mana levels at minimum

> Requirements unlocked for additional patterns

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Os Solus

Age: 1

Sex: male

Race: Demi stone elemental

Type: mutation

Class: Stone shaper

Strength: 48/48

Constitution: 39/39

Dexterity: 24/24

Endurance: 90/90

Intelligence: 34/34

Wisdom: 23/23

Charisma: 9/16

Manafield: 14000/14000

Physical density: 19000/19000

Skills: 2

Inscriptions: 3/7

Mana generation: ERROR ANOMALOUS DRAIN DETECTED 1 [32]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Solus silently stared at the status window as he continued to drain the mysterious mana-orb. His mind was still foggy, making it hard to decide what to do. A long time later, the energy finally dwindled, then stopped entirely.

With a relieved sigh, Solus called up his evolutions list. The list that appeared was a bit longer, some options having turned readable.

> Rank A+ class evolution:

> Stone-body shaper (Wisdom+++ and Dexerity++)

> Rank A+ sub-racial evolution:

> Lava elemental (Dexterity++ and Inteligence++ and Constitution+)

> Temporarily locked: Requires fourteen thousand life essence.

> Rank S racial evolution:

> Tectonic earth elemental (Strength+++ and Wisdom+++)

Solus gawked at the additions. He had never seen an S rank before, nor anything that showed as locked. Seeing the life essence requirement, he sighed and shook his head.

None left in this galaxy, he thought sadly before turning his attention to the other two.

The Stone-shaper had three wisdom, just like the S race, while the lava-element-sub-race had three increases. Both seemed impressive, although he didn't like the image the stone-body shaper gave him. He quickly looked at the additional information below both options.

"Rank A+ Stone-body shaper - required: Demi stone elemental or stone elemental evolution and high wisdom. The most versatile of the stone-elemental classes, it turns the stone-elementals body into an organic rock. Although lacking the overall stopping power of the other classes, it is highly efficient in infiltration and espionage."

"Rank A+ Magma elemental - required: Demi stone elemental or stone elemental evolution, high wisdom and dexterity. Capable of turning as hot as the core of a planet, these elementals are best suited for wars of exterminations. They can also be used to terraform a world overrun by dangerous vegetation. Highly intelligent. WARNING! Magma elementals are disallowed on any grade A world or above. Failure to comply is punishable by the death of the elementals creator!"

The S race details weren't added, but it wouldn't have mattered either way. Taking another look at the locked line, Solus wondered if he could find any life-energy if he continued jumping through rifts. Perhaps not all worlds were as barren as this one? The idea appealed to him. Seeing new worlds, finding different undead, or perhaps even non-undead?

Need to get stronger first, he thought, shoving his fantasies away.

First, he needed to get out of here, and that meant he had to evolve. In his current state, he was too weak. He turned his attention to the options he thought would probably get him out of here.

"Rank A+ Mineral elemental - required: Demi stone elemental or stone elemental evolution: The physically most sturdy of the stone elementals, mineral elementals can shape not just stone but also metals and crystalline forms. WARNING! Where Stone elementals are hard to control, mineral elementals are almost impossible to control. Evolve with caution. NO REFUNDS! "

"Rank A+ class-evolution: Advanced stone shaper class. Required: Stone shaper class: Increases the size and scope of what a stone shaper can do while reducing the mana expenditure. One of the most useful utility classes to have in your arsenal. Can be used to create entire cities on new worlds. Note, this class is not useful as a combat improvement. If combat is required, Mineral Shaper is recommended. "

Solus scanned across the other options, but his eyes kept going back to the advanced stone shaper class and the magma elemental. More intelligence was always good, and if he didn't have to fear the heat, he could easily get out of here. But the prospect of easily controlling even more massive amounts of stone brought the image of him summoning mountains. Would he be able to do that? Looking at the mineral shaper option, he wondered how much metal there was even left. What if he chose it to find the Wyrms ate all the metal?

With a sigh, he closed the window and rose. Before he picked anything, he had to find a good place to hide.

Finally able to look around, he observed he was in a cave that stretched on in all directions for as far as he could see. Large pointed rocks stood on the ground, stalagmites, while similar ones hung from the ceiling. Not many stalactites remained, though. Most lay shattered on the ground, broken stumps on the ceiling showing from where they had hung.

Looking down at the thing that had attacked him, Solus saw a pasty grey undead. Unlike a zombie, it didn't have cracked or ripped skin. Instead, its skin was smooth and glossy. It had a bald, wrinkly head and a thin, muscular physique with four slender arms. Solus growled as he kicked the thing away. The body flew into the darkness as Solus turned to the red glow.

Falling from a hole in the roof, a stream of lava ran from one side of the cavern to the other, ending in an enormous lava bed that stretched out to one side. The green light from the stone was entirely overwhelmed by the red light, and he could barely sense the stone below the lava. Staring closely, he saw small shapes move around in it.

Seeing the black dots and recognizing them as the black lava beings, Solus growled. If those hadn't attacked him, he wouldn't be here right now! He glared at them for a while before turning to the other side. Green rock glowed softly there, undeterred by the glow of the lava. Walking forward, his body still sore and painful, Solus was glad he didn't have to crawl anymore.

He didn't come across any more undead, but he did see signs of fighting. Destroyed stalactites and debris littered the scorch-marked ground. Something seemed to have thrown boulders around, as they lay everywhere. It almost looked like a small war was fought.

Perhaps between those four-armed things and those lava beasts? Solus thought as he observed a massive boulder that had snapped a towering stalactite in half, lying inside the ruble.

It took a long time to reach the cavern's wall, and when he did, he frowned. Scratch marks, fists indentations, and fractures covered the wall as if something had been pounding at it for a long time. With a blink, Solus remembered the heavy pounding he had heard after waking up. The attack had distracted him, but where was the thing that had done this?

It can't have been the four-armed thing, he thought. That had been too weak to do all of this.

He sensed around, but there were so many tremors and shakes in the area that he could barely find his own movement. Gouging his energy level, he frowned. If he had to fight something strong at this moment, he would be in trouble.

He walked up to the wall, shaping it, and the stone grumbled as a tunnel formed. Stepping in, he quickly closed the entrance while scanning the surrounding rock. He didn't find any more caves, just an enormous amount of rock all around him, and he continued until he was deep inside. Then he created a large room with a bed, closing the entire tunnel behind him.

As he lay down, he shuddered as he remembered the last time he had fallen asleep. Focusing, he drew the stone closer around the room, increasing the density as much as he could. When spots appeared in front of his eyes, he stopped and nodded. That would do.

Closing his eyes, it took a very long time for his mind to calm down enough for sleep to take him.

---

Climbing up another small stair, Derin only felt admiration for Borl. They had been moving through the city for a long time, and the green zombie still knew exactly where he was going. Some of the paths they took had been so obscured by buildings, Derin knew he would never have found them. They passed hundreds of small alleys, some with windows. Derin looked inside, and every room was taken, most by multiple undead.

The sheer amount of undead he had seen so far made him wonder how those Kaots would ever succeed in conquering this city. He wasn't even sure Solus could. The memory of the de facto leader of Skulltown made him wonder where the giant Stone Shaper had gone.

"And here we are! A free quarter in the safest, most desirable of locations. The center! Littered with Satri to increase the mana density and help you evolve!"

Borl stood beside a small, crooked bone door. He knocked on it a few times in an odd pattern, and a green zombie opened up. It nodded at Borl and moved off without a word.

"What are-" Tatji began to mutter when Derin kicked her shin, glaring at her. He was glad when she just blinked then nodded.

"The Wyrm-orb will let you stay here for six days. After that, you either vacate, or I'll share your location with the yellow-plates."

Borl smiled evilly before turning around, holding the large orb close to his chest. The two red skeletons followed him.

Looking at the door, Derin shrugged and moved inside a spacious, empty room. There was a small window to one side, too small to move through. Walking further inside, he noted that the ceiling wasn't straight but crooked. One side of the room would be too low to stand, while the other ended in a point he couldn't even reach with his hands raised.

"Can we finally speak again?" Tatjie hissed after she was inside the room.

Sig closed the door before nodding. "But no yelling."

"As if I would do that!" Tatjie laughed. She moved to the window to stare outside and gasped.

"Look at this!"

Derin and the others rushed next to her, huddling close together to gaze through the small window.

An enormous staircase cut a line up through the buildings. Each step was wide enough for ten or more undead to move on, but currently, it was empty. In front of it was a large open area, surrounded by tall, chaotically intertwined buildings with small windows.

"I bet that leads to Scathia!" Tatjie said, her  eyes glittering.

"It does…" Sig said, turning around and putting the containers on the ground. Sitting beside them, he took the lid of one and grabbed two mana-orbs before closing his eyes as the mana-orbs started glowing.

"Sig… when are you leaving?" Derin asked, eyeing the two containers. Although he hadn't got a chance to see what his new evolution could do, he wasn't going to complain if he could drain more orbs.

"Soon."

Getting no more from the stoic black undead, Derin looked at Tirela. "So, what else can you do now?"

The orange undead lay down, stretching herself until her body looked like an arch.

"I don't know. Solus just said he would add parts of his pattern to mine. Something about my current pattern being difficult and incompatible with many others?"

"At least you still look the same!" Tatjie said with a grunt as she stared at her arms with a sad look on her face.

"What are you complaining about? Solus beat the bile out of you for a long time, and you're still in one piece! I don't know anybody else who could do that…" Derin said with a laugh.

Tatjie didn't reply but shot him a filthy look before turning to Tirela. "So, can you create buildings now?"

"I don't know… there's not enough stone here to try."

"If you can, and when we get back to Skulltown, I want you to make me a cool tower!" Tatjie sighed as she lay on her back and closed her eyes.

"I can try," Tiralla replied, sitting with her back against the wall and staring at the stone containers with orbs.

"Sig?" Tatji asked.

The wraith grunted.

"What are Satri?"

"I don't know."

Derin grinned to himself as he sat down and began contemplating what had happened.

It was midnight, and the starlight fell through the small window when Sig finally got up. Derin gazed at the tall wraith, curious what would happen.

Wiping the dust from his hands, Sig gazed at the containers. After a second's hesitation, he grabbed some orbs and stuffed them in the small pouch around his bone leg armor.

He stared at the others, focusing on Tirela. "Don't drain them all. Take two each, and leave the rest. We might need them."

He moved to the wall with the window before turning around again. "Do as Tirela says while I am gone. Don't go running off like brainless zombies."

Derin shook his head, looking at Sig in confusion. "Why her, and not me?"

Tirela looked just as surprised, and she frowned at Sig.

"Because she has survived for longer than any of us put together, in more situations than she can even recall," Sig said.

Derin felt the other's intense stare, and after a moment, he nodded.

Sig turned into a massive black cloud that filled half the room. His red eyes lingered on Derin for a moment before he surged up through the ceiling.

"Great!" Tatjie said as she got up. "More orbs! Maybe I can get my arms back!"

Derin sighed as he followed her to the baskets. Grabbing an orb, he tossed it to Tirela, who smiled and nodded.

Grabbing one for himself, Derin sat down and closed his eyes.

I should have stayed in Skulltown...