Trial by Fire (Greystone Under Siege)
The sounds of battle from Greystone Crossing grew louder as Kenji and Lyra cautiously approached the crest of the hill overlooking the trading post. What they saw made Kenji's stomach churn. The main gate of the palisade was splintered and hanging precariously from one hinge. Inside, chaos reigned. Figures, both human and something monstrously other, clashed in a desperate melee. He could see the glint of steel, hear the guttural roars of a new type of Blighted creature – larger than the Putrid Wolf, bipedal, with long, clawed arms and a vaguely reptilian snout. They moved with a horrifying, jerky speed, their bodies oozing the same black ichor he'd seen on the wolf.
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[SAI - System Log/Entity Group Analysis]
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ENTITY GROUP: Blighted Ravagers (Corrupted Humanoid)
INFECTION STAGE: Stage 3 Blight Infection
THREAT ASSESSMENT:
Individual Threat: Medium
Pack Threat (3+): High
PRIMARY ATTACKS:
- Claw Swipe (High Bleed Chance)
- Vicious Bite (Infection Vector)
WEAKNESSES:
- Fire (Moderate)
- Blunt Force Trauma (Head/Joints)
- Aetheric Disruption (Advanced)
RESISTANCES:
- Piercing (Minor)
- Fear (High)
TACTICS: Swarm, Overwhelm. Minimal self-preservation.
ESTIMATED NUMBERS: 8-10 active within palisade.
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Fighting them were a handful of humans, likely guards or a few brave traders, armed with swords, axes, and the occasional crossbow. They were outnumbered and clearly losing ground. Screams of pain and terror punctuated the din of battle. Smoke was now billowing from a couple of buildings inside the post.
"Kenji, we must go!" Lyra whispered urgently, her tiny form trembling. "This is too dangerous! Those are Ravagers! They are relentless!"
Kenji's mind raced. His programmer instincts screamed at him to ABORT, to find a SAFE_MODE exit. This wasn't a game; there were no respawns. These were real people dying. But another part of him, the part that had impulsively yelled at the Putrid Wolf, the part that was slowly, terrifyingly, coming to terms with his new reality and the strange power he wielded, hesitated. He looked at the desperate faces of the defenders, at the brutal efficiency of the Ravagers.
His Aether tingled, almost unbidden. He could feel the raw energy within him, a resource waiting to be allocated. His System Architect Interface was practically begging for input, for a script, a command.
"Lyra," he said, his voice surprisingly steady despite the tremor in his hands. "If we run, they all die. Maybe... maybe I can do something."
"But Kenji! You are one! They are many! And those things..."
He knew she was right. It was insane. But the image of the code he'd written to hurl the rock flashed in his mind. It was crude, inefficient, but it worked. What if he could refine it? Or try something else? The System Note about Aether constructs...
He focused on the nearest Ravager, which had just slammed a defender against a wall. The man slumped, unmoving. The Ravager turned, sniffing the air, its red eyes landing on another fleeing figure.
Kenji took a deep breath. He needed to disrupt them, create an opening, something. He didn't have time for elegant code. He needed a quick and dirty hack. He visualized the ground beneath the Ravager.
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[SAI - System Log/Object Analysis]
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OBJECT IDENTIFICATION:
Type: Compacted Earth
Section ID: #CE-GRS-004
PROPERTIES:
- Stability: Stable
- Density: Moderate
- Aether Resonance: Low
POTENTIAL MODIFICATION (via Aether Script):
- Script: Destabilize_Local_Integrity
- Aether Cost: High
- Result Predictability: Unpredictable
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Unpredictable Result. Not ideal. But better than nothing. He pictured a simple command: terrain.section[#CE-GRS-004].execute_subroutine('sudden_sinkhole', depth: 1.5m, radius: 1m).
A sharp spike of Aether drained from him, more than with the rock. He felt a wave of dizziness.
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[SAI - System Log/Action Report]
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SCRIPT EXECUTED: 'sudden_sinkhole' (via Destabilize_Local_Integrity)
AETHER CONSUMED: 15 Units.
SYSTEM WARNING:
- High-cost, low-precision environmental manipulation.
- Risk of collateral damage.
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Below, the ground beneath the targeted Ravager suddenly gave way with a wet, sucking sound. The creature shrieked in surprise as its legs plunged into the earth, trapping it waist-deep. It thrashed wildly, momentarily out of the fight.
It wasn't much, but it was an opening. One of the defenders, a burly woman with a woodsman's axe, saw her chance and, with a roar, charged the immobilized Ravager, bringing her axe down on its exposed head.
Kenji felt a grim satisfaction mixed with the nausea of Aether depletion. He'd bought them a few seconds. He scanned the battlefield again. Another Ravager was clambering onto a low roof, preparing to leap onto an unsuspecting crossbowman.
No time for sinkholes. He needed something faster. He remembered the System Note about Aether constructs. What was the simplest construct? A barrier? A projectile? He visualized a shard of pure Aether, hard and fast.
// Aetheric Shard - Alpha Version 0.1 function create_and_launch_aether_shard(target_entity) if target_entity.is_valid_hostile: shard = new AetherConstruct.Projectile(type: 'piercing_shard', density: 'high', velocity: 50m/s) shard.set_target(target_entity.weak_point_thorax) shard.launch(user.get_aether_focus_point()) system.log("Aether Shard launched at " + target_entity.ID) else: system.log_error("Invalid target for Aether Shard.") end end
create_and_launch_aether_shard(BlightedRavager_ID_BR007)
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[SAI - System Log/Action Report]
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SCRIPT EXECUTED: 'create_and_launch_aether_shard'
AETHER CONSUMED: 8 Units.
COOLDOWN: 3 seconds.
SYSTEM NOTE:
- Rudimentary Aetheric projectile.
- Low damage potential against armored targets.
- High velocity may cause instability.
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A sliver of crackling blue energy, no bigger than his finger, materialized in front of him and shot towards the Ravager on the roof with an almost inaudible hiss. It struck the creature in the side. The Ravager flinched, a patch of its corrupted flesh sizzling, but it wasn't a disabling blow. It roared in anger and looked around for its attacker.
Damn it. Low damage potential. Kenji gritted his teeth. He needed more power, or better precision. Or maybe just more rocks.
Lyra was tugging at his tunic, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and awe. "Kenji, that was... what was that?"
"Not enough," he muttered, already scanning for another target, another opportunity. The battle was still raging, the defenders were still falling. He couldn't stop all of them, but maybe, just maybe, he could tip the scales, even a little.
He spent the next few minutes in a desperate, adrenaline-fueled haze, "scripting" on the fly. He tripped another Ravager with a localized earth tremor, managed to knock one off balance by "pushing" a stack of barrels with a focused Aetheric shove (consuming a surprising amount of Aether for such a simple task), and launched a few more marginally effective Aether Shards. Each action drained him, the world starting to swim slightly at the edges of his vision.
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[SAI - System Log/User Status Alert]
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USER: Kenji Tanaka
AETHER STATUS:
Internal Aether: 35/100 Units.
WARNING: Aether levels approaching critical.
POTENTIAL RISKS (Continued High Expenditure):
- Aetheric Exhaustion (Symptoms: unconsciousness, temporary ability loss)
- Potential Aetheric Backlash
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The defenders, however, seemed to have gained a sliver of hope from the bizarre "accidents" plaguing their attackers. They rallied, fighting with renewed ferocity. The tide, almost imperceptibly, was beginning to turn. The Ravagers, while brutal, weren't intelligent. They were confused by the unpredictable environment.
Finally, with a last, desperate push, the remaining defenders managed to corner the last two Ravagers against a burning building. A volley of crossbow bolts and a well-aimed axe throw finished them off.
An eerie silence descended, broken only by the crackling of flames and the ragged gasps of the survivors. Kenji leaned heavily against the crest of the hill, his legs feeling like jelly. He'd done it. Or, at least, he'd contributed. He was also fairly certain he was about to pass out.
Lyra zipped in front of his face, her glow surprisingly bright. "Kenji! You did it! They're... they're safe!"
He managed a weak smile. "Yeah... safe..."
Then, the world tilted, and darkness, much like the one he'd experienced in his apartment, rushed in to claim him. This time, however, it felt less like a system crash and more like a critically low battery shutdown.