Unbound-Chapter Nine Hundred And Eighty Four – 984

“Order Departs!”

Purple gold limned a thousand shards of cobblestone, stopping them cold only inches before they would have impacted hundreds of soldiers and every Unbound there. Elowen grunted, forcing them all to fling back harmlessly into the distance. “Beef!”

“Oh no—” Beef spun, taking in the shattered cobbles and scarred buildings. “I didn’t mean that!”

“We’re all fine,” Gabby said, banishing the golden glow from around herself. Elowen had moved so fast that she didn’t need to activate her Skill. “Were you trying to do that?”

Beef glanced behind him, where the road had been broken apart. In the gap, two pillars of twisted chitin extended upward, each at least five feet in diameter and separated by an equal distance. “Uh, no. Those weren’t supposed to root so far—Hallow, why didn’t that work?”

“It is a new technique,” his armor replied. The crystal around him flowed like liquid, forming into a club-like limb off his shoulder. It pointed to the ground. “You drew too heavily from the entropic energies beneath us, and it manifested without Intent.”

“Gotta pay attention the foundation, kiddo.” His dad nodded his giant lizard head. “I see the problem. Anchor points, right?”

“R-right.” Beef brightened. “Can you help?”

“Sure. You were trying to do the—” Wendell glanced at everyone else then back at his son. “Anime thing?”

Beef grinned.

Anime thing? Gabby hadn’t a clue what they were talking about, but Kevin and Shadow leaned in, their attention riveted.

Hallow vibrated across the Minotaur’s shoulders. “This is entirely within your Mind, Beef. You must hone your Intent.”

“Right.” He licked his lips. “Dad?”

“Alright. First we handle the underlying structure.” Wendell carefully took hold of Beef’s forearms and pointed them downward. “Start there and then move outward. Once we’ve layered that, we can build up.”

“Got it. Hallow?”

“Of course. Entropic Paradigm.”

Their voices rolled together on the last words, harmonizing in a way that sent chills down Gabby’s back. A flow of that same strange power flowed out around Beef, thrumming across his hooves like ripples in a pond. Ahead, the two pillars fell apart, their pieces turning to liquid before joining back into a thick sort of scaffolding. Gabby couldn't quite tell what it was. She was getting better with the different Mana types, but this felt so different, like it wasn't Mana at all. It was like he was stealing heat from the air that left her skin prickling before a rush of warm wind filled its place.

What did Hallow call it? Entropic energy?

Whatever it was, Beef had a firm grip on it and with the patient guidance of his dad and Hallow, he shaped great swaths of chitin into angular sheets that folded over and around the stubby scaffolding.

It’s bones, she realized as the thick pieces extended upward into what looked like a hinged knee and wide thighs. He’s creating a skeleton and wrapping it up in armor.

The process sped up, Beef laughing now as a block spine, angular ribs, and two long pairs of arms joined the rest. Sheets of chitin tucked against the skeleton, anchoring itself to all the bendy parts of a normal body, before thicker pieces layered atop them. Last of all was the head, which swelled up atop the last of the blocky spine to form a roughly circular skull with two empty holes for eyes and no mouth. A helmet sprang up around it, more of a bucket than anything sleek, surmounted by a crescent shape where its forehead would be.

“Aaand done!” Beef gave a heavy breath and his hands were shaking a bit as they dropped. “Target made!”

Across the square, a massive, if crude, knight stood in the hole Beef had scoured into the street. Thirty feet tall and half as wide, it looked bigger than all the giants that crowded near them. Its angular armor gave it a sense of danger, though Gabby wasn’t sure what to expect. “All that for a target dummy?”

"No way. This is—I've been trying this out recently.” Beef touched his chestplate. "Hollow, can you?"

"Of course, Beef." The eyes on Beef’s chest flashed a blackened green. “Exultant Command. Rise.”

Within the depths of that bucket helm, two brilliant points of blackened green burst aflame. The light spread, rushing across the seams of its chitinous armor from chest to boots, until the whole creature was limned in an eerie radiance. It straightened, like a soldier coming to attention, and its head turned ever so slightly to look at them.

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At her. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Archie stepped back. “That’s creepy as hell.”

“It looks like a mech!” As if in counterpoint, Shadow sped forward until he drew even with Beef. “Did you base it off of StarCaptain Zero?”

“I did!” Beef laughed—a young man’s giggle sounded odd coming from that barrel chest. “You watched it?”

“Every episode, even the filler season when they all landed on that beach planet.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Beef cleared his throat as he caught Gabby’s eye. “I figure this would make a good—look, I can move it a little bit.”

He gestured, Hallow’s crystal lighting up around him as power beamed between them and the enormous construct. Slowly, the creature lifted its hands and clenched them, and like a boxer approaching their opponent, its legs shuffled forward—only to immediately fall. One panicked string of curses and a series of quickly built chitin supports later and the creature was once again upright and mostly immobile.

“It’s uh, a work in progress.”

“You’ve done better than the last time,” Wendell said, walking around the thing. “You listened to what I said about the joints, I see.”

“Yeah, it stopped them from snapping.” Beef opened his hands wide, the creature copying the gesture. “Gabby, I think this is more than enough. Do your worst!”

“Alright.” She walked carefully forward. After seeing all of their incredible Paths and Beef’s amazing Skill, it was time they saw her for what she was too. “Luminous Raiment.”

Time to give them a show.

The Skill burned within her, a flare of gold that poured from every Mana Gate at once. Instead of rolling outward, however, it wrapped her flesh like a second skin. Then more. Far more. Gabby’s third step lifted off the ground and did not touch it again as solid structures of golden light lifted her bodily from the ground. Armor fused around her, locking her vision into the vibrant spectrum of crystallized Mana even as it elevated her into the chest cavity of an enormous, armored giant.

Gabby couldn’t keep the smile from her lips. Other than a few quick trials that morning, she hadn’t put the Skill through its paces. Luminous Raiment was the Transcendent rarity evolution of Aurum Armory, a Legendary Skill that was already a perfection of the Inquisitor’s outdated Echoes of the Divine Shell. No longer mere translucent panels of hardened light, now it was as sturdy as metal and just as opaque. It fully encased her already massive Body within layers of solid light, each a piece of armor with incredible resilience, and gave her the reach of someone twice her size.

“Holy crap,” Kevin said through the choral hum of Mana. “She made a mech too!”

“It’s armor!” Gabby laughed. She turned sideways, hand outstretched. “Now, let’s see how much punishment your Risen can handle! Brightblade Crescendo!”

Gold rushed from Gabby, but instead of fleeing through her Gates as it normally would, it was perfectly conducted into her Raiment. The golden armor flushed, a saturation spreading through its chestplate where Gabby stood before gathering into the right shoulder and traveling down to its massive gauntlet. The Skill pricked at her Intent, almost prompting her, but she was ready. This Skill, while upgraded to Transcendent rarity, was not much changed from its previous form—and Gabby had thousands of hours of practice with it.

A glittering lance formed in the air, too big to hold even in her magically enhanced fists. The length of it rivaled nearby houses, and it flared near the grip where a hand formed of ghostly force held it easily.

Beef gulped audibly. “No way…”

The Risen oriented on her, shifting its large bulk to face her weapon, and Gabby grinned. The thing was thick, and who knew what sort of magics reinforced its body. It could take a dozen blows or even a hundred before she cracked it.

The idea of it thrilled her.

She moved—that was all. Three quick steps, lance leading the way. It split the air, rocking the street with peals of thunder as condensation bloomed across the tip in a thick cloud. Then sound vanished as warm liquid burst Gabby’s ears, though she could still tell people screamed as they were hurled backward by the wind. Gabby nearly stopped, but by the time she noticed it they were already caught in nets of vines and telekinesis.

Her lance hit.

Beef’s chitinous creature didn't stand a chance. Light burst, a golden cascade that bored through blackened green and durable chitin in a flash—leaving behind a hole over ten feet in diameter straight through its chest.

It groaned, the materials collapsing on itself as chitin slagged into a superheated goo.

Beef stared, dumbfounded. "Wha—How did—?” He thrust his hands forward. “WHAT?”

Archie was on the ground, not thrown by the attack but fallen due to sheer enjoyment. “You—haha—you didn’t stand a chance!”

Wendell peered through the haze of gold and blackened-green, rubbing his scaly chin. “I think it held up better this time. Look, near the hips and shoulders. They’re almost entirely intact.”

“That is where the Entropic energy was pooling,” Hallow said calmly.

“It was reinforcing the chitin. Yes, that makes sense.” Wendell clapped his son on the back. “Don’t look so beat up! This just means there’s more we can do to perfect it!”

Beef groaned. “But—It was already awesome…”

“It was,” Gabby said, perhaps a little too loud. Her ears had only just healed themselves as she banished her Raiment. She stepped onto the cobble stones and they felt odd underfoot, as if they were still vibrating. She stretched her jaw. “We’re just a bad match up.”

“You’re not kidding,” the boy grumbled. He summoned a rueful grin though. “It was pretty damn cool, though.”

“Mich—Beef! Language.”

“Sorry.”

Gabby nudged the Minotaur with her shoulder. “Your Risen wasn’t half bad either. I bet once you can get it moving, you’ll be a monster on the field.”

Beef flushed, even through his fur. “Thanks. My real goal is to make my own Eidolons—”

“Oh really.”

A man landed in the square, his boots insanely quiet for the sheer presence he exuded. A chimera landed nearby, its huge dark wings stretched out against the morning sky. Legionnaires dropped to a knee and everyone stilled.

"Gabby," her brother said, "and Beef too. We need to talk. Do you have a moment?"