Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 81: Pebble

For generations, the people of Xiabla had not allowed the souls of their people to enter the cycle of rebirth, rather the souls of children born to the Xiabla were chained to their physical bodies.

After death, the soul was placed into an appropriate vessel, this was how the first treasure weapons were made. The treasure weapons gave the Xiabla the edge they needed to gain dominance over their home plane, and soon, as all victors do, they turned their eyes to new frontiers.

Unfortunately, the Xiabla were ill prepared for interplanar war, and soon became a fragmented people, joining the endless races who were scattered across the myriad planes, often due to the same foolhardy warmongering that befell the Xiabla.

Cieba's tribe had found safe haven on a long abandoned micro-plane, perhaps carved out of the very void by some powerful being eons past. He was the most recent of a long line of Freemen and mercenaries, bringing back valuables and technology on their journeys throughout the multiverse.

Alas, he was to be the last of his line.

The Void Disk sped through the air, slamming into Cieba's body, the tortured screams of Cieba and his ancestors ringing out, the Void Disk emitted a screeching sound as it slammed into Cieba's reinforced body, tearing through the golden material of the Treasure Frond.

Kothar watched on, mouth agape, eyes wide, he knew the Void Disk would be powerful, but he had no idea it would be so effective.

Kothar winced as he watched the reinforced creature being torn into shreds, desperately trying to heal itself, but being repeatedly pulled apart by the Void Disk.

With a long final screech, the Void Disk and carcass of the creature pulled together into a dark pinpoint, which then winked out of existence.

A solitary, oval shaped, glassy black object fell to the ground where the disk had disappeared, lying on the forest floor. There was nothing else left, no trace that anyone had been there mere moments ago, except for the shining pebble, from which an orange light blinked.

[That was terrifying. Even though Krieg is back stabbing b******, he sure was right about the dangers of Spatial Magic, that could've just as easily been me.] Kothar shook his head in disbelief, staring at the odd oval lying on the ground.

[You can thank my calculating abilities for the fact that we haven't been deleted from existence by an errant Spatial Spell. Surviving even that, that thing has got to be ridiculously durable. If you were made out of whatever material that is, you wouldn't even have to worry about misfiring Spatial Spells. We could cover you in those if we found enough of them.] Silane said half joking.

[I am ever so grateful, O merciful AI, what would I ever do without you? Also, don't even joke about turning me into some kind of odd shiny black beetle.] Kothar protested, walking over to the device.

[There are no electric fields around it, but I can see an extremely concentrated pure mana within.] Kothar observed the oval carefully. It looked like a solid piece of obsidian, polished impossibly smooth, roughly the size of his palm.

[You think it might be dangerous?] Silane asked Kothar, she couldn't detect any kind of fluctuating electric field or even an energy circuit that would signal some kind of booby trapped device, In moments like this, she had always deferred to Kothar's innate sense for danger.

[If it were, that poor guy probably would have used it to defend himself or attack us.] Kothar said simply, reaching down to pick the object up.

"Ow!' Kothar yelled, the polished surface had somehow pricked him, though there wasn't even the slightest sign of a bump on the oval. He looked down at his hand and saw the tiniest spot of blood beading out of a tiny prick.

[I guess it was dangerous. If you pass out from poison I'll call for help.] Silane laughed, if it were poison, they were well and truly f*****, what else could she do other than joke about it.

[That's not funny Silane, it might have really poisoned me.] Kothar protested, and began to reach for the object again, this time with his hand wrapped in his cloak, but was shocked at seeing the script of Ursten appear on the previously blank oval.

"Welcome to the Pebble Network. Would you like to join the network? Simply place your palm on the Pebble to join." The text read, appearing just above the surface of the oval, seemingly projected into the very air. The device itself now emanate the slightest amount of heat, and if there had been a thermometer nearby, it would have measured the Pebble as being exactly at Kothar's body temperature.

Even after all the mysterious magical artifacts he had seen on Eclat, the Pebble was enough to surprise both Silane and Kothar, the pair were speechless for a long moment.

[What the f****?] Silane was first to break the silence.

[It must've gathered my DNA from the prick, but how did it know I was able to read Ursten, that's amazing. It must be some insanely advanced technology, or a magical artifact? I guess there isn't really a difference when a device reaches this point.] Kothar stared at the Pebble hard with his Mana-Sensing Lens, but only saw the same stream of extremely pure mana, still flowing in the same elegant, basic pattern as when he had first seen it.

[Well, put your palm on it, Kothar. I want to see what this Pebble Network is all about.]

Silane pulled Kothar out of his train of thought, lost in thoughts of what kind of civilization or individual had been able to craft such an amazing device, the speed at which it had managed to project the text of Ursten to him after pricking was nothing short of miraculous.

[Alright.] Let's do this. Kothar assented and placed his palm on to the waiting Pebble.