The Way Ahead

Chapter 128: Fertile Grounds

Chapter 128: Fertile Grounds

The sheer idea of correspondent objects made Edwins inner scientist want to jump up and down like a child. It was, in effect, a perfect conductor across arbitrary distances, able to transmit non-destructive energy perfectly by adding heat- or Attributes- in one location and withdrawing it in another. Hed need to figure out some way to replicate it alchemically once he was done with Niall

Later, he promised himself, fighting off the urge to feel guilty about getting distracted while the lives of his friends were on the line. This was how he was saving them, no matter how little it might feel as such on occasion. And he needed to save them, because how else could he bear to see them after letting Kynigos die?

Focus.

Edwins mind raced. Okay, so Correspondences. That meant there was, essentially, a single drop of blood- it would have to be a drop, otherwise there wouldnt be enough alchemical significance- being mirrored everywhere by the Skill.

It had to be two different Skills, wouldnt it? Or even more? Or no, not really. If Niall had managed to make the thing alchemically, which Edwin could totally believe was possible, the guy was a master at life alchemy, then he could probably take a new basic Skill that linked all of his blood together and let him spread out.

If Niall had Regeneration of some sort, then perhaps that was how his infection spread, by regenerating inside of new hosts? Or maybe

Okay. He needed to focus. The exact mechanics of how Niall was doing what he was doing would be very useful in coming up with a cure, but without Alchemy constantly giving him new hints, he was just shooting blindly. He would have to do this the normal way, methodical experimentation. What did he already know from his tests?

Well, there had to be some level of self-defense mechanism inherent to the Skill, or else Edwin burning a single drop of the blood would propagate across everything and kill him the moment his blood took any amount of damage. Something which cut off the connection once it was harmed?

No, that feel quite right. But there had to be something.

He pulled out one of his vials of Nialls blood, making a new container for study, spreading out a drop onto a microscope slide. A moment later, a pair of lenses made a makeshift microscope, and enabled him to take a closer look at the energies involved with his various sensory Skills, pushing Perception to its limits.

Ah. There it was.

The transfer bond wasnt instantaneous but had a small amount of lag inherent to the transmission.

And because the sympathy requires all the blood to be identical, he muttered to himself, If it becomes damaged then its broken from the gestalt, protecting the rest. At least, until the separated blood becomes identical once again.

It was honestly a rather ingenious method of self-preservation for something that came out of apparently emergent properties. If he wanted to actually destroy Nialls blood in its totality, he could use any odd drop he found, sure, but hed need to do it in such a way that it wasnt damaged until after it had resynced with the rest of the blood.

It was further complicated by the fact Niall had just utterly ludicrous regeneration, and if the destruction wasnt total, hed just come back.

Hmmm.

Based on all the tests Edwin could run, there wasnt that much Health stored within each drop of blood. It made sense, really. Because Attributes- particularly Health- didnt damage the blood, it might be a valid thing to be transferred, and then given the nature of how Attributes liked to spread out

Niall may well not even have the Regeneration attribute! Or well no, the sort of healing that he did wasnt something which Health did on its own. But the source of bottomless healing was probably siphoning off endless amounts of Health from whoever many hundreds of individuals he was parasitizing.

Regardless, both burning and poisoning wouldnt work because of the nature of the Correspondence, Alchemical Dismantling and Refining had both failed Could he maybe get Niall addicted to his cooking?

I need real answers here.

Maybe he could blow him up somehow? Could he somehow turn Nialls blood explosive, then no, that would just kill a lot of innocent people. And still had the same problem that using poison did. He okay.

He was an alchemist, that meant he could do this all on his own. The answer was somewhere, all he needed to do was pry the secret out of the universes clawed grasp and use that fact to his benefit.

He would do this on his own. Putting aside the fact that nobody else was trustworthy, he needed to do this on his own. He didnt have anyone that he could count on, now more than ever thanks to this stupid plague.

Anyone could turn out to be an actual enemy at any time, how could he make any plan which relied on any of them? He needed something which would work on its own. He needed to do this, and he needed to do it himself and alone. This was a surmountable problem, all it needed was the right solution to be found and then that would be that. Maybe some kind of poison, or magical attack. He could use his biology knowledge to figure out how to make a blood clotting attack?

What about evolving Stamina Manipulation? It wasnt ideal, sure, but he would sooner live than be perfectly optimal with all of his Skills. It was too perfect for potentially dealing with a foe like Niall. The only hangup was of course that Stamina Manipulation was only just past level 30, so hed have to borrow Skill Points from his future advancement, but he could deal with that.

Not that it made figuring out what Path he might take which would be most useful for him any easier. None leapt out at him as being a silver bullet, but maybe he just wasnt thinking about it in the right way? Perhaps one of the Healer or Medic Paths would give him Health Manipulation, which if it were offensive or worked on Niall might well be a good way to Exsanguinate a lot of people, and probably not even kill Niall.

A small part of Edwin worried that Tara might have killed people with her constant face-stabbing of Niall, but there wasnt much they could do about that. Also, there was no assurance that the Skill he got would even affect other people and not just himself, so no. A Skill evolution was not his way out here.

Hmmmm.

But maybe he didnt need to worry about controlling Health?

Mana would probably be allowed through. It coexisted with his blood just fine after all. Maybe he could just allow a bit of mana into the blood gestalt, and see if he could then fry it? That might just work, actually. There were a lot of chemical products which wouldnt be too compatible with life, if he could just change his mana into imitating one of them after Niall had already absorbed it...

Edwin picked up the ampule of Nialls blood and brought Mana Infusion to bear. Immediately, it started fighting back against him, just like when hed tried to Refine it. Well no, not quite the same. It didnt feel so much like a force coming from the blood, just a limit to his Skill of some form. It couldnt Infuse living stuff, perhaps? Or maybe it was something to do with the way magic preferred to affect entire objects, Nialls discontinuity interfered somehow?

Regardless, a few more minutes of trying without the slightest change in status indicated that it was perhaps a fruitless endeavor, and he changed to just using straight magic to try and make an impact. A thin strand of mana threaded out from Edwins fingers, a trickle of saline, ready to be accepted into Nialls blood as sure as any rehydration pack in an IV.

There was a moment of suspense as it beaded around the vial of blood, then

It went in, and Edwin sighed in relief. Okay, now all that he needed was to twist his spell into something a bit more hostile, and everything would be just fine.

Who even needed other people? Edwin had everything he needed at his fingertips. Hed been taught, yes, but it was his own skill, not that of Rillahs, that was being proven now. He was useful, he had a place, and now was seriously not the time for him to sort out whatever emotional baggage he was bringing into this, for all that it kept distracting him.

Honestly. It was stuff like this that led him to corralling all of his emotions into neat little boxes, and hed have to spend some time repeating the feat once he had a chance.

But for now, this was a simple enough task. The body was delicate enough that a simple change in acidity would result in catastrophic damage, and even supernatural regeneration was unlikely to help someone survive magical concentrated hydrochloric acid in spell form being injected into their bloodstream.

So thats just what Edwin did.

Nialls blood seemed to veritably screech, Edwins samples of the substance vibrating soundlessly as he gathered them together, stowing them in his pouch. He kept a thread of mana pouring into the vial as he took off into the air, returning to the city.

It wasnt a pretty sight.

People were on the ground, holding their heads and shaking as Nialls skill ravaged their bodies. About the only person who wasnt on the ground was a familiar-looking figure in silver armor, striding through part of the more densely-packed layer of bodies closer to the town square. Blood drenched the clothes of most of the people around her, but there was no obvious source.

Seemed like the perfect time to say hi.

Tara.

Adventurer Edwin, she tiredly greeted, gesturing at the twitching piles of bodies around her, Was this you?

He gave a curt nod, Im feeding some corrosive mana into the overall blood gestalt, which-

Dont care. Keep it up.

What happened?

The bastard gained the ability to control multiple people at once, and said individuals gain his regeneration. It has been quite the battle, ensuring not so much as a drop of blood touches my armor. Are you coming closer to a solution?

Im working on it.

Do not tarry. This is a perilous situation.

With another nod, he took off once again to perch on one of the surrounding rooftops. He wanted to keep an eye on the infected with this test.

Edwin channeled his mana as fast as he could, creating and concentrating an extra-potent shot of mana acid. Hopefully, the additional shock would overwhelm Nialls passive regeneration and finally kill him. Without killing everyone he was connected to?

Edwin steeled himself. Niall had already killed everyone hed poisoned with his Skill. Edwin was just.. halting the spread. Besides, if anyone were to survive, it would surely be Rillah. And she was with Yathal, so she could heal him.

Except theres no way she has more Health than the guards, and definitely not as much as Niall is bound to

Edwin took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and pushed the spell through.

The effects were immediate. Whereas before the liquid shook, now it began to almost blacken and burn, dissociating and falling apart. It congealed and fractured, becoming solid and then turning to ash.

Best of all, the people down below werent dead. Sure, they were all on the ground writhing and screaming in pain, and the Skill controlling them had turned the power of blackened, congealed blood, but they were alive!

He did it! Hed won?

As he watched, comparing with his own samples of Nialls blood for confirmation, vitality rushed back into crimson liquid, ash revitalizing itself and returning to full health.

He could even feel a corresponding swell in the skill/magic emanating from the fluid. It felt like an infection rushing back into a wound, of rot setting in with death that was nonetheless still alive, before returning to the normal blood and viscera that he associated with Niall.

The people down below, now free of Edwins magical assault, began to return to their feet, looking around in confusion until Nialls puppeteering Skill hijacked their bodies once again.

Edwin dropped to his knees in despair.

The alchemist really was immortal. Destroying his blood utterly hadnt done it. How the Blight was he supposed to kill something that could come back from the dead on top of everything else?

For whatever reason, that single action completely shattered the illusion. His heart still lay in shambles, but for all that he felt dead inside, for all that he wanted to just curl up and die, he refused. With a single bark of laughter, he turned to the impostor with a fire in his eyes, No.

What do you mean, no? He was in control-

For about the last five minutes. This is a lie. You are a lie. I wont, he closed his eyes, I refuse to listen to lies anymore. Yours, anyone elses, mine. All of it was a lie. But now Im going to tell you something very, very true:

I am Edwin Karl Maxlin, and you will stop hurting my friends.

He almost kept going, threatening to call down all the wrath of alchemy and science, but before he could, his enemy responded.

Niall-Rillahs eyes glowered with hate, Make me.

In response, Edwin unleashed Unbound Tether at full strength, blasting Rillah across the room and pinning her to the far wall. A half-step with Longstrider brought them within arms reach, and Edwin called deep within himself for a way to disrupt Niall, a half-formed trick turned into a plan. It was just barely out of reach, but he could probably...

There was the sensation of someone grabbing his hands, and his eyes shot open in surprise.

Edwins skin grew hot, and mana veritably poured from him at a rate hed never experienced before. It soaked into Rillahs mana like water to a sponge, and he used the temporarily superb grasp he had on his mana to twist it all into Talsanenris-equivalent. The rush of life energy empowered every cell in Rillahs body, from head to toe and from skin to blood. It was enough that even though the magic was beneficial, it wrought a momentary change in Rillahs blood and broke its Correspondence to Nialls skill.

The half-elf collapsed, her limbs folding like a puppet with its strings cut. As Edwin watched, Nialls skill reestablished its connection and attempted to regain control over Rillah, but a churning use of Cleanse Self kept the possession at bay.

Rillah coughed on the floor, You have three names?

Edwin laughed, the tension broken in an instant, What, do you guys not have middle names here or something?

No, she kept coughing, a hacking, wheezing sound that made Edwin flinch. We dont. Where did you say you were from?

Ill... tell you later.

Once we take care of that man?

Sure. Remind me.

Gladly, she smiled, and Edwin didnt have it within himself to keep his hopes in check.

How much of that was you, and how much was

Him? Ugh. You know, I try to keep a generally decent outlook, but Im not a fan of that. At least he isnt a creep about it, just, oh, trying to crush a friends spirits with my own voice. I will end him. her eyes grew hard, He wasted no time in trying to break you, all of what I said about trusting and admiring you? That was all me. So, friend, whats the plan? her smile was weak but undeniably aimed at him

I hope- Oh, shut up already.

I wish I had something better, but heres the deal. Niall is currently only a single drop of blood, just mirrored endlessly. To actually take him out, we need to somehow burn that drop of blood.

That doesnt seem too hard, if its all the same blood.

Its a bit trickier than that. See

Edwin gave an abbreviated version of what was going on, only needing to rephrase things twice due to him delving too deeply into the technical specifics. Progress!

But that whole rebirth through rot thing? Yeah, thats where you come in, and I wish Inion was able to

He trailed off, the memory of helping hands assisting him, allowing him to overpower his normal limits reminding him of something from a very, very long time ago.

Inion? he asked, waving off Rillahs confused look. He wasnt talking to her, but feeling inside his own magic. There. A bit of familiar resonance, trying and failing to connect to the outside.

Edwin called that drop of mana to his fingertips, twisting it such that it more closely resembled Inions. A bit of shade, a bit more water, and-

It took a life of its own, mana once again pouring from his body in a way that left him oddly drained and slightly lightheaded. In front of him, a very familiar form took shape drifting midair.

Hi, Inion. Im sorry.

Oh you are now? Thats all you have to say to me?

Well, Im going to choose to ignore the fact you lied to me and kept yourself bonded to me instead of changing to the Rhothos like you said you would because this isnt the time for that, but yes. Im sorry.

Well, thats fair. But I must say, I expected you to be more mad about that.

I have had a very long day, and about all the emotion I can muster is aimed at Niall. Besides, I need your help.

Rillah looked at Inion warily, but didnt protest.

The fey shrugged, How could I say no?

Great. Since I guess everyone is here? Edwin half-expected Tara or Lefi to materialize from thin air, to really complete the friendship is magic motif he suddenly had going on, but whether fortunately or unfortunately no such thing occurred, Heres the plan

Edwin made a small incision in Rillahs arm, pulling out a fresh drop of blood for his experiments. With that in-hand, he took molai as a buffer, synbaline as a numbing agent, talsanenris to keep the reaction going, an experimental blend of firevine and magnesium for power, the former of which was very carefully stripped of all nonmagical volatility. Without a strong enough ignition source, it wouldnt so much as be warm. But once it was exposed to magic, it would ignite in an instant.

The actual brewing was something of a blur, Alchemy giving Edwin an entirely second set of instincts for the perfect amount of time to heat, to cool, to stir, to distill. At some point, a huge crowd of people broke into the workshop, but Rillah used wind and Inion used water to push them back. Tara might have also come around at some point- it would explain the massive holes in the structure around them at least.

By the time Edwin was out of his fugue state, the bubbling, fluorescent potion in his hand, he was hovering a few hundred feet above the ground in a bubble sustained by Inion. Around them, Tara was engaging with a flock of avior as a blur of silver, barely keeping up with the dozens of individuals trying to breach their literal bubble for all that she sent them to the ground like bloody comets.

Ultimately, Nialls magical signature was fundamentally one of life, as was so common in Rhothos. It made it particularly robust and liable to return from anything, which was why even under near-total annihilation it could absorb Health so effectively to regenerate, it was just a fundamental aspect of the Skill, or person, or whatever. It was muddled enough he couldnt be certain, but the end result was the same. Niall was a tenacious weed that would just keep sprouting so long as the soil was fertile.

Unfortunately, they couldnt salt the metaphorical earth with what they had. Edwins magic wasnt sufficiently aligned with life for anything he did to be survivable, nor was it a proper counter. His potions didnt destroy life, they were meant to uplift and empower.

Who would have ever thought that not including pollution in his magical ideal of potions might some day harm him?

Regardless, that left his al- friends. His friends. They had much the opposite problem. Inions magic was that of an eternal spring positively bursting with life, while Rillah was the fresh sprouts popping up shortly after a spring rain. Both could only enhance growth, not stifle it. Even if it had been autumn, Rillahs magic was still too focused on wind and not enough on decay.

With a nod of confirmation from Edwin, Rillah got them started by channeling Calming Touch into her own blood. As soon as the effect transmitted itself to the samples Edwin had, Inion brought her healing magic to bear as well. It veritably sang to Edwin, impressions of a fresh and clear brook washing away all impurities as she bathed the tranquilized blood in it.

Then a blood-red vein pulsed along her neck, and Niall was back.

They couldnt cleanse Rillah yet, her connection to Niall was too important. All they could do was hope that she would be able to fight him off without having to resort to full-strength Cleanse Self. Edwin took a deep breath and calmed himself. This might actually work out better than their original idea.

Oohh. Youre so clever, arent you? What, do you think if you heal me then Ill let you live? That you little weaklings can hide in your little bubble and just get away with all of this? Youre leaving all those people to die as you run away with your claws wrapped tight. You and your little friends have your days numbered, and your time is already up.

Stick to the plan, he told Inion, Its not that different this way. Drop me and get going.

With a deep breath, he reached out and grasped Nialls hand. Instantly, he felt the rush of blood through his hand, and Rillah staggered away. She grabbed the potion from his hand and smoothly injected it into her arm, shuddering.

Meanwhile, Edwin felt the absolutely skin-crawling sensation of Nialls blood creeping inside of him, seizing up his muscles and paralyzing him. His friends jetted away, Inion looking forlornly at him as he began to fall to the streets below.

What a weakling. Whats the matter, cant fight me off now that your friends arent helping you? Edwins mouth moved of its own volition, his own voice alien to his ears.

You know what? Yep. I am weak. Its just me against the entire world, with nothing but a chemistry set to protect me. Ive got no fighting Skills to speak of, nothing to protect me, just my wits. But do you know what the difference between an alchemist and a scientist is?

I assume youre about to spout some pathetic drivel about the value of friendship.

Nah. Nothing quite so clich, for all that friends are nice. But an alchemist is an island, one overwhelming presence taking on the world all on their lonesome. Quite impressive, and they can break the rules of the universe as they see fit. But theyre still only one person. They can be wrong, they can be mistaken, they can fail. But when a scientist fails? They have countless people supporting them, checking them, helping them. Each one provides valuable insight and skills that a single person could never have.

They would never be able to fully flush out Nialls life-presence. It was too persistent, too all-pervasive to counter with a bunch of similar types of magic to deal with. There was no way they could get rid of rot, not truly.

But what they could do was replace it. Burn down the old, then sweep into the fertile grounds left with something less harmful and more wholesome.

Simply put, youre being replaced.

Overcharge.

Overcharge.

Overcharge.

Overcharge.

OVERCHARGE.

Edwin blacked out as the raw magic flooded his veins.