171. Voidling

[Designation: VOIDLING]

[Oathborn Description: To be born of the Void is to know it truly and absolutely. And those who know the Void will stop at nothing to fill it. Take heed, ye who'd dare summon such a being to do your bidding. Be ready to face your demons, lest ye become theirs. When active, VOIDLING loses 1 HP per second. 25% of the damage taken by the Oathkeeper (both Health and Poise) is transferred onto VOIDLING.]

[Oathborn Parameters:

Health: Oathkeeper Max Health x2

Mana: Oathkeeper Max Mana x2

Stamina: Oathkeeper Base Stamina x1.3

Poise: Oathkeeper Base Poise x1.3

Reconstitution Cooldown: once per circadian cycle

All attacks deal Primal damage and therefore scale with Oathkeeper

's [Integrity]]

***

Serac had a rough start to her first Morning in Tidereign.

If the hectic events of 'last Night' had been disorienting, they were nothing compared to reconstituting in a strange new place, one that scorched bright bronze beneath a white-hot sun. And before Serac could even attempt to get her bearings, she was bombarded by more Pathsighted setbacks:

[TIDEWATCH: A new cycle has begun. Your OATH remains breached.]

[WARNING: Frenzy Imminent]

[TIDEWATCH: Your Oathborn has transmuted into a Breachspawn. You now have 60 seconds to rebind your Breachspawn.]

Bronze made way for a familiar red haze. Serac again had to take a knee, but funnily enough, she'd been Frenzied so often lately that she was starting to get used to it. She maintained some of her calm, enough to note the momentary 'reprieve' in between the Frenzy at Night and this latest episode.

I wonder if I'd died before the Frenzy could fully set in? That seemed to be an accurate assessment, at least as indicated by her fully healed parameters and lost Karma:

[Karmic Level: 60]

[Liminal Karma: 0 क]

[HP: 1176/1176]

[MP: 124/124]

[Cartridge: 6|62]

And now, I'm restarting the process after reconstitution?

She wouldn't get any answers in her current state. But Pathsight, wordier than ever here in Tidereign, had saddled her with yet another time limit. 60 seconds to rebind your Breachspawn. It didn't bother to define 'rebind', nor did it explain what might happen if Serac failed her task, but on both counts, the implications were clear enough.

When in doubt, shoot the problem in the face. Right now, said problem took the form of Serac's other self. A shadow that had sprung itself out of [Chamber Three] before dragging its Oathkeeper to the other side of the Realm.

Where is it now? Serac scanned her surroundings, insomuch as she could scan a blood-soaked field from her knees. Come on, show yourself. Give me a face to shoot at, and be quick about—

Wham!

[117!]

[39!]

The hit came from nowhere and caught Serac in the side of the head. The force of it nearly sent her flying. It was all she could do to stay on her knees as she turned to the source and saw—

Crack!

[125!]

[42!]

—the heavy metallic head of a polemace, as it went smack into Serac's face and broke her nose. Despite the pain, Serac clocked this was the second move in a combo. Which meant…

The third move—a powerful vertical swing—flew down from overhead, threatening to crack open her skull. Serac just managed to twist out of the way, even as she unholstered REVOLVER and fired from the hip. The polearm's head thudded against the stony ground, while Serac's unimbued bullet ripped into her assailant's shadowy figure.

[166!]

Even in imminent Frenzy, Serac knew enough to use her advantage as a ranged fighter. She slid to the ground and rolled away from the maceman, firing a blind shot as she did. The bullet missed, but it did check her opponent's movement, giving her the chance to create a sizable gap.

She even managed to wobble to her feet at the end of her dodge roll, the better for her to get a full view of the opponent. Not that it made much of a difference; her whole world was nothing but jumping shadows amidst a red haze.

[Designation: VOIDLING]

[Aberrant Race: Breachspawn]

[Aberrant Class: Field Boss]

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Just great. I finally get to meet my Oathborn familiar, and I can't even tell what it looks like because of Frenzy. Oh, and it's also a Field Boss trying its darnedest to delete my existence!

That, by extension, also meant untethering itself from the safe anchor that was its Oathkeeper. Serac had half a mind to remind it of that fact, but she doubted very much it could understand. Or cared even if it could. VOIDLING knew only to fill the void at its shadowy heart. Right now, violence was its only solution.

Serac also noted the missing portion of VOIDLING's Health—a bigger chunk than could be accounted for by one bullet. The thing had already taken self-damage from hitting her, which meant its damage-sharing trait as an Oathborn was active even in its Breachspawn form. The notion would be endearing—almost touching—were it not for everything else that was wrong with the picture.

[TIDEWATCH: You now have 45 seconds to rebind your Breachspawn.]

No time to waste. Better get cracking myself.

Serac lifted REVOLVER into a firing stance. From this distance, she could attack with impunity while giving herself plenty of room for defensive maneuvers. Options-wise, she was now back on [Chamber Three]; she had to cycle out the rest of the cylinder as quickly as possible and get back to her high-DPS spells.

If VOIDLING had its three-hit combo, Serac had her triple burst. The first two bullets found their mark ([166!], [166!]), but the third was parried away by a flick of the polemace, together with a satisfying 'ping'!

Serac took a Ksana to blink in amazement. She'd seen her bullets blocked or even absorbed, but never before had anyone read and deflected their flight with such precision. A feat performed by her own 'summon', no less! This would've been great news if she didn't have 40-odd seconds left to smite the damn thing.

No matter. This thing is nothing if not aggressive. It will attack, and when it does, I've got the space I need to react and land a counter.

Sure enough, her opponent made the next move. But while Serac had watched for its shadowy limbs to telegraph an attack, VOIDLING itself did not budge. Instead, the iron head of its polemace moved on its own, closing the distance in a flash and flying straight into Serac's face!

[Oathborn Technique: EXCEED THY GRASP]

[160!]

[53!]

Serac's reaction was delayed, not only because the technique had burst forth with no telegraph, but also due to a strange visual artifact. A character of some foreign or ancient script. Four paint strokes that together formed the rough shape of a tree. Its 'ink' splashed through the red haze, further distracting a Rakshasa as she tried to read the flight of a polemace.

Serac ducked just in time to avoid the smushing of what was left of her face. But the polemace still managed to deal full damage by catching and pulverizing one of her horns.

Caught by surprise and missing one horn, Serac followed through with the other half of her original plan, which was to counter as soon as VOIDLING had committed. She emptied the final round in the cylinder from a kneeling position, trading back another [166!] in damage. But that left her all the more vulnerable to:

[Oathborn Technique: BE THOU AS WATER]

This too was accompanied by an inky character. Four strokes again, this time depicting ripples upon flowing water. Serac had been in the middle of a reload when the polemace bent and flew back around like a whip. Its approach was fast, low, and more importantly wide, giving a kneeling Rakshasa no chance to roll out of the way. She finished her speedload, even as she braced for impact.

[180!]

[60!]

A hard hit. Despite the lack of visual aid, Serac was experienced enough to recognize the waning of her own Poise. One more big hit in quick succession, and she'd surely lose it—and with it the fight and all it represented. Across the haze, her VOIDLING showed no mercy, whipping its polemace back above its head to dish out more pain:

[Oathborn Technique: NO STONE UNTURNED]

A third character for a third technique. Three rigid strokes stacked and crossed to depict a mound of earth. As for the attack itself, it was the same overhead swing as before, only with the weapon itself engorged to double or triple its original size and heft.

Serac knew better than to test its damage potential (either to Health or Poise!). She barely managed to scramble out of the way, so focused on evasion that she neglected to counter. This time, the polemace landed so heavily on the ground as to leave an impact crater.

This thing can stretch, bend, and make itself giant? Serac thought with growing amazement and fear. It's like that 'shapeshifting polearm' I once saw at… in… hang on, where did I see it before?

Now, of course, wasn't the time to reminisce. Having seen her Breachspawn's destructive capabilities, Serac had to fight fire with fire. No better time than right this second, while VOIDLING recovered from its high-commitment combo. To that end, Serac dipped once more into ol' reliable.

[Chamber One: CATHARSIS]

[176!]

[59!]

That was how Serac learned that even her own self-damage could transfer onto VOIDLING! As funny (and a little mean) as that was, she had much higher hopes for [Catharsis]. She'd seen the maceman parry away an unimbued bullet, but could it do the same to the black flames of Penitence?

[Oathborn Technique: THE AXE FORGETS]

The answer, as it turned out, was an emphatic yes. And it too was accompanied by a splash of ink. This newest character was a little too complex for Serac to count its strokes. But its image got through to her all the same: molten metal roiling within a lidded cauldron.

VOIDLING's shadowy figure remained in place, even as it whipped and swung its polemace at blinding speed and in a tight sphere around itself. The result was a momentary pocket of intense turbulence, perhaps not unlike Renna Sandvik's [Elemental Flux] if it'd been hyper-specialized for defense rather than mobility.

[Catharsis]'s black flames were met by turbulence and blown out in short order. The shadow responsible, none the worse for wear, returned to a neutral stance with its do-it-all polemace standing by its side.

Gods above, Serac cursed to herself, how many OP techniques does one summon need? It'd taken the Rakshasa exactly 42 minutes and 30 seconds of being a Tidereigner to deeply regret some life choices. She especially wished she'd listened to Renna's advice about intentionally nerfing her own Oathborn familiar…

[TIDEWATCH: You now have 30 seconds to rebind your Breachspawn.]

Halfway into the time limit, the task felt more impossible than ever. Serac had chipped away at VOIDLING, only to have shaved off less than half its Health. Meanwhile, she herself was down to just over 300 HP—and likely a single 'check' away from Poise-break.

I need help.

That, in the end, was the long and short of it. For as strong and versatile as Serac had become, she never ceased to run into opponents who were even more so. Knowing what she knew about VOIDLING now, she thought she'd fare much better in a rematch, but alas, that was no longer an option in her current state.

I need help, Serac thought again as VOIDLING shifted its shadows, no doubt readying another hard-hitting combo. She readied REVOLVER in response, but in her heart of hearts, she knew the fight was as good as lost. I need help. Speaking of… aren't there people who usually do help me in situations like this? Where… where are Zacko and Renna?

That was when a pair of newcomers did join the fray. Two galloping shadows flanked VOIDLING on either side, before closing in for a combined attack. VOIDLING spun out of harm's way and backed off several lurching steps, its attention now turned fully to the new threat.

Serac sighed in numb relief, then immediately repositioned herself, the better to support the two melee fighters from a distance. Yet, even as she did, her sense of disorientation and solitude only grew in intensity.

Two shadowy figures had come to her rescue, but they weren't those of her friends. One shadow was tall and burly and the other slight and nimble, yet that was where the similarities ended. For atop both of their heads sat crowns of twisted, branching bones—antlers unique to the Mriga people.

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