The Apprentice of Ouroboros [Monster Evo LitRPG Adventure]

The first thing the team pointed out was that Syra was glowing. Neska tallied that up as yet another not-normal thing going on.

Upon closer examination, Neska determined it wasn't a magical effect, but a side effect of the accumulated mana energy from Syra’s core. Her internal mana was now visible in a spiderweb pattern across her body, and she hugged one arm protectively, her free hand gripping her pendant.

Neska stared at the shells of half a dozen more constructs sitting as piles of scrap on the floor. They had all been wrecked with ferocity, and she gestured to Jurik, Hadley, Brent, and Kalloway. “So, you’ve been busy.”

“Oh, it was wild! We found the easiest way to beat these things was to drown them! So Syra snuffed out their internal igniters. Then we just proceeded to dismantle them while they were flooded out,” Hadley said, looking proud. “Why do you look a little more ashen than normal, Neska?”

“I almost had an alchemical explosive detonate in my face. Yeah, these constructs required me to get creative with how I dismantled them.” Her sour tone told Hadley to drop the inquiry for now.

“I see. Okay, so, Professor Kalloway? What’s our precedence here?”

“Our precede–Syra Should be in the safety of the Academy right now!” His gravelly voice left little to interpretation; he was livid. “Durim, rough figure, how long would it take to get back to the academy, from right here?”

“I’d have to figure out where the hell we are, first,” he fumed. “Somehow we wandered off the charted zone. Give me a few minutes. We’ve got a full day on the clock, right?”

“I’d prefer to not wait that long.” Syra’s voice was distant, and the brightness was gone from her eyes. “I have to make some choices while you figure that out. Worst case, we hold up somewhere defensible, I go into my cocoon, and pop out a brand new monster.”

Neska slithered forward, putting an assuring hand on the elementa. “Juni and the others looked after me when I was vulnerable. We’ll watch over you, no matter what.”

It brought a little warmth to her face, at least. “Hey, I could use some input from you, actually. And you guys. Do you mind if we…”

Durim put a hand up, and cocked his ear out, as if listening. “This place is dangerous. We’ve got constructs acting out some kind of pre-programmed defensive routine to kill intruders. We’re all little metal bits that need a good welding to them, and I’ve got no desire to go out that way. There could be hundreds crawling about. What the hell were they building here that warranted here that required so many of these damn clankers?”

“Mining?” Neska pointed to raw mana crystal sitting in a bin, still lustrous and bright. “This was recently dug up. Maybe these things are on a preprogrammed routine to mine and return raw materials for processing. Why has no one run into this?”

“I swear this wasn’t here,” Durim fumed, still examining the map. “I know these damn turns and I know this place well. I don’t get lost!”

“We all get lost eventually,” Kalloway said, with not a trace of snark or sarcasm in his voice. “It’s also possible we might have hit the threshold of a portal? No, we’d see the flash and we’d see that brief snippet of the aether as we transition between points. Couldn’t be that.”

“Or it’s an Instance.”

All eyes turned to Trevor, biting his lip gently. “Tell me you’ve at least considered it. If this city is one giant network of tunnels, secret pathways, and portals, it would be an ideal location to hide one, if I were the Varadur.”

“There is no way they could smuggle that past–”

“Tell that to the tunnel viper trio or other monsters that were south of the holding line?” Trevor pointed at Neska. “You found Rocs and Dracolisks forming nesting locations right under our noses. You don’t find that a little disturbing?”

“Have Instances ever generated entire constructs? This all matches dwarven aesthetics, and the other influences of culture at the time.” Durim scratched his head, frowning. “I admit, that would be a good theory. But there are so many things they would have done to make that perfectly align. They need to feed the damn thing, and they can’t just let it sit there, unattended, especially early in its growth. The only time they could have gotten close enough was five years ago. But…” he frowned, tugging on his beard. “No, lad, you’re wrong on this one."

“Whatever the scenario, I’m still on board with the ‘exotic zoo’ or ‘captive specimens escaped the failing civilization theory,” Neska proposed, folding her arms. “It’s the one with the least moving parts. At least, for anything plausible sounding.”

“I kinda agree with Neska on this one. Instances warp reality around them, and this doesn’t show evidence of that.” Juni consulted the map, peering around, then went stiff tailed. “Ah, found the problem! We’re deeper than were supposed to be. I think we’re in the second layer of the ruins. Not the first.”

“But why is it more preserved, and not less preserved than the top layer? That doesn’t make sense.”

“We can speculate all day, but what matters if exploring unknown territory and finding that stealthy lizard,” Durim growled.

“We still have a big problem,” Hadley countered, pointing a thumb at Syra. “We didn’t come down here equipped for a long stay. We need to navigate to familiar terrain, and I sort of have a general sense of how to get to it. Brent?”

“I can smell my way to less foul air, for what it’s worth. This place…smells of ash, metal, and dust, long since put to rest.”

“I’m fine. Remember, I can move faster than you guys, get into tighter spaces with my hydro form,” Syra reminded them. “If it does come to that, we should take a defensible position, and someone should get within range of Captain Nevin’s secondary team to let them know. Plus…I’d like to consider my options for evolution.”

Durim nodded. “Don’t take long. String bean, you up for giving this girl her options?”

“I can help out too,” Neska proposed. “I know some of her evolutions from the books I've been sreading. Though, it’s a generic list. We don’t have every evolution possibility mapped out yet.”

‘Alright. Take ten minutes. Between me, the mouse and the scouts, we should be able to chart a path,” Durim concurred.

Neska walked over to a smaller room that appeared to be a small office. Stranger still, when she opened a small metal desk, brown, faded paper still remained in the small enclosure. Most of the funishingings of any fabric material had long been eaten or worn out, though she could make out a few tattered tapestries decorating one side of the room. The familiar image of Gaia, heaven-spanning wings, was prevalent across the fabric.

Syra focused on bringing her Interface up for Neska and Kalloway to view. “I have a few choices. More than i thought I would. I know everyone gets at least two. I have four.”

“List them out.”

Neska leaned into watch the floating text unfurl from thin air, and she saw a spread of evolutions that would suit Syra.

“Elder elementa priestess. Ice maiden. Hydro Myrmidon. And…one more.” Syra couldn’t utter the last one aloud.

Aqueous Kraken. The name itself sounded ominous. “How rare are each?”

“At Tier three, you get at least uncommon evolutions. Some people can regress into lesser forms, but it’s an utter waste of time and power.” Syra had already filtered out a few, judging by gaps in the lettering. “The rarest is the Aqueous Kraken. It’s legendary.”

“That’s…good, right?” Neska asked.

Syra shook her head, eyes misting as she might cry. “Not…really. Let’s go through the other options.”

Neska peered at them, each having pros and cons.

The Elder Elementa Priestess was unusual, in that it almost appeared to mimic a Divine-aligned class in function. What it was was a straight upgrade to her water elementa form, but larger, stronger, and with heavily boosted Intelligence and Soul, and modest increases to the rest of her attributes. “So, what is the advantage of this one?”

“There are reasons to take it. I could even reach the peak form of the water elementa, Tier five, if I played my cards right. I could become an ascendant elementa, powered not just by hydro, but one or even two other elements, a hybrid, if you will. It would allow me a lot of versatility, and a stronger frontline presence.”

Kalloway showed a small sketch from his book, showing Syra in her current form, but more solid, with more distinct anemone-like hair, fins, and other aquatic features. “It looks pretty.”

“Neska, I have no connection to a divine. None. This evolution is a joke. Because the divines turned their back on the world, or worse, were turned against it by the Radiant King. They weren’t there to save my mom. Or anyone else.”

She gripped the pendant tighter. Something had Syra far more agitated than usual, and she felt like that pendant was part of the story. “Next one, Ice Maiden. Take my hydro powers, but add some ice powers on top of it, and I become immune to water and ice attacks, but gain vulnerabilities to fire. It also will alter my appearance and allow me to float, even partially chill the atmosphere around me, with some very interesting area-of-control evolutions. It, too, is like a monster caster.”

“But most of your abilities are, what, physical? Agility-based?”

“Yes, Agility and Perception. But I also gain bonuses to some of them from my Intelligence and Endurance. It’s what I’d call a side-grade. I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

“Could be good to have a second elemental affinity,” Kalloway affirmed, showing a crystalline, angular woman with her hands bowed up in the air, and icy fractals forming along her limbs. She seemingly hovered above the ground, too, and Neska had no idea how. That was a very unusual evolutionary power. “What else?”

“Hydro Myrmidon is a more physical aspect, allowing me to control large volumes of water, compress it, and use it for physical attacks. It gives me far greater Endurance and Vitality, and I gain more resistance to various attacks. But it’s limited to close-range options. So, whatever I’ve got now for ranged attacks, that’s all I’ll have, or they’ll be modified, and even possibly nerfed. My Hydro blast has three essence points invested right now, and losing it to some unknown variant would suck.”

Neska had a hard time seeing this one as a fit for Syra. As if on cue, Syrona slithered up to Syra, wrapping around her shoulders and trying to nudge the elementa’s hand.

“The last one, the aqueous kraken, is a hybrid Intelligence and Vitality creature. A close-range magic user that has a tough shell, tentacles with good range, and powerful blows and nasty disabilities as part of their evolutions. It’s…also a hard ‘no’ from me.”

This last evolution must be a hard one to read, based on how she read it back so slowly. “Syra…why are you afraid of this last evolution?”

“For the same reasons you’re terrified of taking a naga evolution: you never want to become like Markus.” Syra clenched her pendant tightly, while stroking the coaty's head gently with the other. “An aqueous kraken killed me. My mother. And everyone else.”

Neska leaned in and gave the elementa a good hug around her shoulders, and she sobbed softly. Her words quickly became almost inconsolable. “How goddamn cruel is that? That the Interface would even suggest I would ever want to be the same thing that wiped out my family, my people, I–”

“Syra. It’s okay.”

She shook her head, voice cracking. “No. No, it’s not, Neska. None of it is. I act tough on the outside, but my memories circle those monsters feasting on them, one by one, while they were still alive. Then they narrowed down their choice picks: me and my mother. My mother begged them to let me go, as an act of mercy. Divines help me, I only wish I had a fraction of the courage my mother showed that day.”

The cruelty is the point. A long dormant, awful thought bubbled up in Neska’s mind. The Varadur could be cunning, and some of them, downright evil. But was that evil driven by their craving for power? Or was it there all along, and becoming a monster made it easier for them to stop hiding?

It would be easier to kill every last one of them.

But…could she condemn them all to death, when she knew for certain some of them had no interest in fighting? That some of them were forced and had no choice?

And then there was Syra, tough as nails, brought low by what almost seemed like a taunt by the Interface. Neska gripped her firmly as the elemental sobbed.

Neska remained silent as Syra spoke in choked, gasping words, gushing out. “It was my fault, my stupid fault. I watched when my mother told me to close my eyes. She didn’t want me to see what they did to those they captured. But I did. I could hear the bones snapping and their flesh tearing. I…I screamed. Our hiding spot in a rocky crevasse…hnggh, gone. T-they made us watch. They knew who we were. They knew everything about the village. They knew when my…my father was out with the warriors. Lured out of position.”

The words gushed out almost as fast as the tears. “I’m scared. I’m scared like that day too long ago, and I’m powerless. I couldn’t save Mom. I couldn’t save anyone. And I don’t want to be alone.”

“Syra, we’re here. It’s okay.” Juni scrunched close, tail held in her hands. “Every one of us has a story like this. And it never gets easier to hear, and ever harder to tell.”

Kalloway had remained silent for most of this, eyes downturned, looking exhausted. This hadn’t been the first time he’d heard a story like this, Neska realized. He’d heard it so many times, for many years, that he was almost numb to it. Almost.

The professor made a quick motion to Brent, who bounded over, a worried look on his face. Syra reached out with a watery tendril to pull him in, and she sniffled softly. “I’m sorry guys, I’m such a mess. I’ve been holding this in for so long that I couldn’t do it anymore. That…stupid evolution…one last goddamn taunt, courtesy of our enemy.”

“Syra. We’re all here for you. You don’t have to pick right now,” Brent assured her, patting her on the back while she hugged him.

“I have to eventually. I know what I’ll end up picking. I’m down to one of two. But I kind of want your opinions.”

Brent nodded softly. “Syra. You don’t let the monsters define your choices. You’re the only one that gets to pick your future. And I know it’s scary. We’re all within a few levels of our next Tier. So we’re all gonna be right beside you, knowing what’s coming, and who we need in the moments that matter. You hear me?”

“Stop being so stern and serious!” she sobbed, even as she managed a weak laugh. “I miss the Brent who’s a smartass, cocksure, and mildly cool!”

“Only mildly?” he echoed, a toothy smirk emerging. Syra laughed a little firmer that time, shoving him playfully.

“Oh, shut up! I give you one compliment, and you’ve never let it go!”

“W-well, objectively speaking…” Juni cleared her throat, trying to feign off her own fears. “The elementa priestess is…certainly the most unique among them. You said it yourself, it has the highest potential. And I don’t think faith in a divine matters. I find it odd that evolution has that name.”

“Some monsters have rare variants that convey their magical powers far more than their physical. Sometimes I wonder if the classes partially shaped the monster's evolutions, since the Interface is the common link,” Kalloway explained. “If you wanted my vote, I’d probably say the Ice Maiden. We don’t have many examples of that on campus besides Nori and a few others for the frost affinity.”

“Elementa Priestess,” Brent offered. “Only because I know that, at least on the outside, it’ll probably be the least dramatic change.”

Neska had stayed silent, for good reason. As awful as it sounded, the Aqueous Kraken would be an ideal fit for Syra from a lineup standpoint.

But from the psychological side of it…it would likely cause the most damage if Syra felt she were forced into it. Which meant the right choice wasn’t the good choice, this time. “If I may,” Neska offered. “I think I’m in alignment with the others. The Elementa priestess may offer higher team synergy and a greater potential for yourself.”

Syra wiped her tears with her sleeve, looking more composed. “You think so?”

“Yeah, I do. But Syra, you’re out of commission for a full day if you commit to this. I know we have a time limit, but we–”

“No. We keep going. I’ll pick my evolution at the last second if I have to,” she said firmly, slowly rising from the ground. “I’m going to spend my last twenty-four hours with a body I can still call mine. I’m with you, all the way.”

“Then we best not waste time,” Kalloway affirmed, snapping his book closed and stowing it away. “Neska, maybe send out Syrona further in advance; those damn clankers are being activated by something, and I don’t think it was her.”

“We don’t know either,” Durim added, sensing the private moment was over and approaching with the rest of the team. “Damn strange. You think Markus is aware of us, throwing all these things at us?”

“Possible, but unlikely. But with the noise these things made, he might have heard something in his hiding spot.” Neska grabbed her bow and counted her arrows and alchemical vials. “Let’s finish this hunt–”

More clanking sounds echoed down the corridors, and she let out a frustrated hiss. “Excuse me while I go blow up some automatons. Syrona, delivery attack!”

“Uh…what does that mean?” Brent asked, his ears standing on end.

Neska tossed an alchemical munition up in the air before Syrona grabbed it in her jaw, trilling softly. “What do you think it means?” she asked slyly.

“It means I better go put in my earplugs,” Brent muttered, the clanking sounds growing ever louder and more ominous.