Chương 65: Chapter 64 - Rasping Rings.

Before them sat a barrel-sized sea mine. Barrel-sized because it was made with a barrel.

"The metal will just rust faster anyways, these barrels are already water proof and the wood will become shrapnel much better than that iron ever would have" Borris said, rapping his knuckles on the mine.

"So the blasting charge detonates from this array here?" Nythera drew her finger across the inscriptions that the runescribe had left. Borris gently pried her hand off it "Yes, once you activate it, that array will detect and ignite the blasting charge if anything gets close, then all those nasty alchemicals will go straight into anything around it. The wood shards alone would be enough to kill any strata zero too close to it" Borris said, guarding the activation array with a mean glare.

"Alright good job Borris, now I just need you to make several more while I figure out what goes in the new cannon" Nythera gave him a cheeky thumbs up. He sighed "I am going to brand my shop name on the side of your ship for payment one of these days".

"Nythera, what is this large construction you have in the center of the workshop?" Rowen stood mouth agape in the door frame.

"Thats my new cannon, what do you think?"

"That's the Aether Culverin? Evolved I presume? Rather large for a construct, the cost to maintain it must be immense" Rowen gulped.

"Yeah, but with my Resonance it's not really a concern. Focus Rowen, I need materials, not lolligagging" Nythera snapped her fingers. He nodded, finally looking away from the cannon.

"I will see if I can procure anything else useful" and scampered off from the workshop. Wonder what's got him in such a state? Well whatever, time to get my new shells in a workable state. I do not think explosions will do much to it, so I'll focus on poisonous shells… maybe if I knew where the brain was I could focus on that, or the heart, but I have no idea, it did not even have eyes to target. Nythera threw wood into the forge and the room rapidly became an oven.

"Nythera by the way, you should know that we do not have materials for any more explosive shells" Borris measured another barrel.

"What?" She halted, another log in her arms.

"Frankly, we do not have a bunch of strata one materials lying around everywhere, we don't even have an active strata one dungeon, the best materials we get from hunters coming back from the interior and those are a trickle" Borris lamented.

"Are you saying that I am heating up the forge for no reason?" Nythera asked.

"Yup".

"Fuck" she put the wood back in the pile. All I have left in Boxy is bits and ends. I suppose there is the Quartz golem brain? But that does not seem suitable for a shell, I could probably make a good item out of it. Besides I only have one anyways.

"And if I wanted materials, where would I go?"

"If you want useful materials, the hunters on the east side claim there's some higher strata dungeon overloading in those parts, quite a dangerous place really. But they got the best materials around so" Borris shrugged. With a nod she was out of the workshop. Need materials? Guess I'll go get it myself. I really need to get a town setup by the quartz dungeon, having to go get shit myself is such a pain.

"Finish up as many of these mines as possible and load them on the The Sea Queen" Nythera called back as she walked off. All she got back was a grunt.

"The Sea Queen is still being repaired, we can take Frank's raft upriver to get materials, however I will need to assemble an escort" Rowen ran to catch up.

"Go get Dominic and his crew, tell them to meet us at the docks tomorrow" Nythera said, going straight home.

"Fine, but remember you owe me" Rowen's eyes stabbed her in the back. Shoving open the door, Nythera kicked off her boots.

"Shelly I am going to the interior tomorrow, I'll be gone for a week or three" she said.

"What? Can I go with you? I would love to do another interior exploration" Shelly shot to her feet, spilling tea on the counter.

"Whats your class level and class?"

"Archer level three" A beaming smile radiating from her, expecting praise.

"Absolutely not, ascend your class and I'll consider it next time" Nythera did not stop on her way up the stairs.

"What?! How can you do this to-" she slammed the door shut, drowning Shelly out. I can't take deadweight on this trip, not when it's going to be as dangerous as I fear.

"I'll get you some maps" she called through the door. Stomping noises could be heard going down the stairs. Lying down she threw her cloak on the desk and let out a sigh. Tap A ring sat on her desk, just outside Boxy. That's weird. Reaching for it, her hand clasped around the ring. And missed it. She reached again. And missed. Another ring popped out of Boxy, landing on the desk. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Ok well Talvik told me these were dangerous so I should probably get them back in the box. The lid flipped open and dozens of rings flooded out of Boxy. Nythera shot to her feet, backing up from the mass of winding rings. The mass undulated, circling around a center point and throwing Boxy to the floor as the river of rings petered out. Nythera brought forth Aether Cannon, barrel pointed directly at the mass of rings. If I fire, will the shell go directly through the wall, and into the neighbors?

Or the neighbors neighbors? Or all the way down the street? Where will it detonate?

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeello I…. aaaaa zirrrrrk" A rasping noise emitted from the pile as they wove between each other, metal on metal.

"By the gods, what are you?" Nythera hissed, one hand steady on the cannon.

"Iiiii aaaaaaaam xyrkkkkk" the hoarse had gotten better and the scraping of metal sounded more like a voice and less like accident.

"What is Xyrk? Who are you? What are you?" Nythera's Will waited on hair trigger, collateral was the only thing holding it back.

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiii" the metal rasped, paused, then continued. Was that thought?

"Ammm Xyrkkkk, Iiii livvved in aaa daaaark plaaace foooor aaaa looong tiiiime. Graaaaaaaaanted life froom god, Iii neeeeed aaaa host" The rasping stopped, waiting for a response.

"Ok… I see, can you please get back in the box please" She pleaded, not letting going of the cannon.

"I aaaaaaaaam noottttt returniiiing wiiiithooouut aaaaa host" They rasped.

"Who do you need for a host? Just anyone?"

"Xyrk neeeeeeeds aaaa speeciaaal host, lots of flux" it angrily rasped.

"I will find you someone with a lot of flux, you stay in the box, within a year I will bring you an adequate host" she said. Within a year, I will find a way to load you off into some stone casket and toss you in the sea. The last thing I am doing is giving these rings some powerful flux mage to control.

"Put onnn this rinnng, ifffff you die, Xyrk willll not be trapped again" They furiously rasped. A single ring? I don't think it can take me over with a single ring… She held out her finger, one of the rings detached from the swarm and attached to her left hand with grace, settling into place. The rings flew in a stream, one after another tumbling back into the black void in Boxy. When the last ring clinked through the lid, Nythera jumped forward and slammed the box shut with her body.

With a yank, Nythera nearly tore her finger off trying to remove the ring. Welp, gotta go to Borris then and see if they can break this thing off. Nythera shoved Boxy under a cabinet, went downstairs, and came back with a brick. Leaving Boxy with a brick on top, she fell asleep after hours of checking the Boxy every five minutes. …

"Good morning, Milady" Dominic bowed with a chuckle. Kennick nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Good morning, where is Hugh?" Nythera asked.

"Hugh is hauling supplies up to Waketown, he's excited about the prospect of clearing more frontierland and getting back into that quartz dungeon" Dominic led her over to Frank's raft.

"Get on the boat, let's get this over with" Frank glared at them from behind the cabin.

"You guys get off and upriver, we need a break from the Queen's antics for a while" Lance called out to them and waved.

"We shall not be gone too long, fret not" Rowen said. Lance strode up to them, gesturing for Nythera to come over for a word "We need to talk, somewhere no one can hear, come take a walk with me" Lance led her down the docks.

"The cult has begun spreading the tale of the coming of the Mother in Greymere, once we made contact with them our branch linked with theirs and they agreed to support you. They believe a flying ship of the gods will take them to the holyland. People now flock to the Edge seeking salvation." Lance whispered frantically.

"The fucking cult? Lance you know what I think about this" Nythera groaned.

"Look, would you rather have them trying to kill you or help you?" he shot her an eyebrow.

"Fine but I don't want my lands filling with crazed cultists, when they get here, I hope they are informed that this is not the holyland and I am not the "Mother". Are we clear?" Nythera glared at him.

"I'll do what I can, the mayors have been nothing short of enthused with the new migrants' energy. Apparently Leo just scoops up waiting groups from the Edge now. But yes, I understand your concerns." Lance nodded. The last thing I need is worshippers. A shiver traveled down her back. Can I just forbid my own worship? These are my islands after all. Nythera hopped onto Frank's raft and Dominic pushed them off the docks. The morning sun illuminated the white mists of the riverway.

Henry sat on the top of the mast, nibbling at some rope. This trek will be my chance to get some serious levels, if I can just get enough firepower to clear that path… who knows what lies beyond? The sail flopped down from the top of the masts as Henry finally breached through the cord.

"You fucking walking manure pile get your ass down here" Frank hollered, throwing a canister at it and missing completely. The wood of the mast sat defenseless against the isopod as it decided that the moss covered top was a delectable dish. Kennick scaled the vertical mast in seconds, finding purchase where none should be. Rowen watched with obvious jealousy. A silver spot glinted from far above, only visible through the flock of lizigeons above them with Precision-Sight.

At least Talvik's back, Kronan knows I'll need him.

"Oi, Dom remember when you were but a lad pushin' the barge off rocks?" Frank broke out in laughter, taking a deep swig of something toxic.

"Shut the fuck up Frank, you always did pay like shit" Dominic grumbled back. Nythera tugged on the new ring unconsciously, as she had been all day, to no avail. I am going find a frack hammer and get this destroyed. If I have to, I will have someone cut off my finger. Fuck… She had been unable to detect any effect on her or her status, which only made her more suspicious. An empty barge drifted down the river lazily, neither ship bothering to acknowledge the other on the wide river.

"Muh damn river is so fucking busy these days, blast Waketown" he grumbled and shot a stink eye at Nythera. Most of the journey was spent with Dominic manning the rock-pushing-pole and Frank mashing up frog organs with a mortar and pestle.

"At least I can get some real work done with the lad on the push stick. Oi Henry get your ass over here, this vials bad" Frank shook the vial enticingly. Henry skittered over and sucked up the liquid, vial and all. The current faded and the mists of The Mirrorwake obscured all.

"Waketown lies over there" Frank threw a thumb over his shoulder "can't see the thing most of the time, but its a blasted eyesore, dumb fucking sailors so happy they'll have a dock not smashed every Wrath. Cowards." he spat. I'll have to see how my investment is on the way back down. Kronan knows we need all the space and resources we can get, what with half of Greymere coming here. Wisps of unidentifiable flux snaked through the air. Green whirls drifting off into the eastern interior.

The raft hit mud and Dominic was the first to jump off.

"You better check for us, frequently" he glared at Frank.

"I'll check whenever the fancy strikes me and no more than that" Frank retorted. Green whirls all wisped to the north-east, weaving between trunks just to fade from sight a second later. What is going on wi- OH I see now. It is almost certainly a life-based dungeon.