Chapter 4: Commission & Metamorphosis
-General PoV-
Mondstadt City, Adventurer's Guild
"It seems everyone is finally assembled," Cyrus, the Branch Guild Master, began. "Some of you may have an inkling as to the nature of this emergency commission, but allow me to clarify, so we're all on the same page."
"Four days ago, the Guild received a report from the Dragonspine Adventurer's Camp regarding an unprecedented mass stampede of the local wildlife, specifically in the Snow-Covered Path and Wyrmrest Valley areas. This sort of phenomenon has no known precedent, which is why I had Fischl investigate." He inclined his head slightly toward the young girl.
"Even the nefarious Fatui dare not lay a hand upon Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, for such folly would surely incur grave consequences," Fischl stated with her usual air of grand authority.
Oz, perched on her shoulder, translated, "What Meine Fräulein means is that even the Fatui have been alerted, yet they've made no rash moves to avoid a diplomatic incident."
"I see. No wonder I was chosen for this task," Eula said, her expression serious.
"Wyrmrest Valley…" Albedo mused, chin resting on his hand. "Guild Master, the Fatui have reportedly assembled near the valley, have they not?"
Cyrus nodded. "Indeed. Do you have any insights, Albedo?"
The synthetic human inclined slightly. "I surmise this is linked to Durin and his remains."
"Durin… the evil dragon subdued by Dvalin and Barbatos?" Bennet asked, wide-eyed.
"Are you all familiar with Crimson Agate?" Albedo continued. The others nodded.
"Phenomena such as that, along with Scarlet Quartz, are derived from Durin's blood. I have also discovered a magical cursed sword crafted from his remains. From these clues, we can infer that anything unusual currently unfolding is connected to Durin, or possibly the Fatui."
Cyrus folded his arms, a thankful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Thank you for the insight, Albedo. Given the circumstances, this commission is to be raised to S-Rank. If any of you are having second thoughts, no shame in stepping back now. An adventurer must know their limits, after all!"
….
Dragonspine, Wyrmrest Valley, Durin's Core
-Azoth-
The cavern that was once empty except for scattered alchemical ingredients now held a large, purple cocoon at its center, pulsating like a living heart. Inside, a humanoid figure could be seen shifting, slowly straightening from a curled position to standing upright.
A thick, dark purple mist swirled through the chamber, hugging the floor and clinging to the jagged walls, partially obscuring the surroundings.
Crack!
The figure placed both hands against the cocoon and—
Shhhht!
A violent tearing sound bounced off the cavern walls.
Azoth stepped out, his new form now easily distinguishable from Albedo. Looking at his reflection in the ice mirror he conjured, he furrowed his brows in contemplation.
"Scathach or Kafka?" If his hair were a few shades darker, or his eyes a touch lighter, he could probably pass as either of their siblings.
Either way, such trivialities held little importance now. Casting a brief glance toward the cavern entrance, Rebis focused on the two new additions to his status page.
Race Change - Abyss Dragon.
|Epic Trait|
By consuming the Heart of an Abyssal Dragon, you have transcended your mortal shell and taken on the mantle of an Abyss Dragon. Your body becomes infused with Abyssal power, granting greatly augmented physical and magical stats. You can shift between humanoid and draconic forms at will, with the draconic form scaling with your energy and power level. Your blood exudes a potent Abyssal toxin that can weaken and corrupt other beings, and your affinity with abyssal power allows you to learn and utilise related abilities and spells to a greater degree.
As a perfect creation of 'Gold' Rhinedottir, one of the Sinners, who stole one-sixth of the "world-shattering" Abyssal power, Durin inherited a seed of that Abyssal power during their creation: the ability to inject potent life-force into matter or energy, animating, restoring, or altering it, often leaving corruption as a side-effect. By consuming Durin's Heart, you have inherited this power as well.
Additionally, the act of consuming the Heart of the Creation of Gold has awakened a unique personal ability within you too.
[Transference]
|Elite Ability|
Allows you to move energy, matter, or effects from one target to another by consuming energy. This can include transferring strength, health, or status effects. To transfer, you must be able to interact with both the source and destination.
"Buy 1 get 2 free?" Azoth joked, curling his lips into a smirk as he clenched and unclenched his fist—
"For the Tsaritsa!"
BOOM!
The cavern trembled. Ice vials containing blood or liquid cracked, their precious contents spilling across the floor.
KILL! BURN! DESTROY!
Rebis's lips twisted in annoyance at his ingredients being ruined. He had half a mind to actually drop his use of [Sage] and let himself be influenced by [Half Light], to let his instincts dictate his actions.
But he didn't.
The ability to think — to pause, to step outside the immediate pull of impulse and evaluate, compare, imagine — was what separated a human from creatures that acted purely on need or reflex.
Instinct could guide a predator to its prey, a bird to its nest, a wolf to its mate, but only thought allowed a being to question why, to choose how, and to envision consequences before acting.
"As a man of reason, I will handle this rationally,"
A gentle smile made its way to Azoth's lips. His tail flicked from side to side as he strode toward the cavern entrance.
….
-Fatui Cryo Cicin Mage-
She didn't even know how it all went wrong.
One moment, she was enjoying her promotion granted by the Fair Lady, ordering around the skirmishers and smiling smugly. The next, all that remained were frozen corpses, limbs scattered across the snow, steam rising faintly where Vision power still clashed against residual elemental traces.
The metallic scent of iron burned her nose. Her knees gave out, dropping her onto the cold ground.
She couldn't even process it properly—how it escalated so fast. The Knights of Favonius—no, Vision holders—had come down on them like a storm. Fischl, Albedo, Eula, Bennett, Razor. It wasn't even a fight. It was a massacre.
"P-please, wait!" she managed, voice trembling, hands raised in surrender as she stared at the blade pointed right between her eyes. "If you kill me, it'll—it'll cause a diplomatic problem! The Tsaritsa—!"
Her voice cracked. She didn't care how pathetic she sounded. No one told her it would turn out like this. No one said they'd actually send the strongest Vision holder's of Mondstadt up here.
Not long ago, she'd narrowly escaped the Traveler's rampage through Dragonspine. The ones stationed for the "Abyssal Heart of Durin" mission hadn't been so lucky. She was one of the few left breathing after that disaster.
The Fair Lady who had completed her own mission, and heard of the incident, had used her authority as the highest Fatui in the region to promote her as the new leader of the mission.
It was supposed to be simple. Monitor the residual energy readings. Keep the Fatui presence minimal. Maybe lounge around a bit and let the soldiers handle the research — grunt — work. The Traveler had gone to Liyue, the higher-ups weren't breathing down her neck, and the snow was inconsequential to a Cryo Cicin Mage.
Then four days ago, the reports came in, stampedes, elemental instability, an unknown energy reading within Durin's Core that instantly corrupted lifeforms.
And now she was here, shaking like a leaf while Eula Lawrence's sword hovered inches from her throat.
"Diplomatic problems?" Eula snorted, her icy eyes narrowing. "What diplomacy? There's no one left to witness this. If your people had just stepped aside and let us investigate, maybe there could've been a pretense of friendliness." Her tone hardened. "But this works better for us. Mondstadt could use fewer parasites."
Ah… so this is it, then.
Her life flashed before her eyes in fragments, snow, laughter, wine shared in the barracks, the comfort of the Cicin's buzz by her ear.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the sword hanging over her to drop.
But—
One second.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Huh? Confused, she dared to open her eyes.
And her heart skipped a beat.
Standing between her and Eula was someone she didn't recognize, at least, not when she could only see his side profile. Long platinum-purple hair that shimmered faintly, and sharp features too perfect to belong to a human.
What caught her attention the most was the draconic features that reminded her of a Vishap.
My saviour…Her terrified mind realised as she noticed him effortlessly gripping the blade that would have taken her head.
But the illusion of a white knight shattered the moment his lips moved.
"I'd appreciate it if you would cease your aggressions against my Lab Ra—" He paused, cleared his throat, and continued. "—assistant."
She blinked, still stunned at being alive and also admiring him for half a second before the words finally clicked.
Lab Rat?…Did she hear that right?
"A-Albedo?" the scruffy, white-haired boy with the fire Vision called out in disbelief.
The Chief Alchemist of Mondstadt?
He was right next to them so why were they looking at her supposed savior—?
Her eyes flicked to his clothes then, and realization slowly sank in as looked between her saviour and the Chief Alchemist.
….
-Azoth-
"You are-" His brother's eyes widened in surprise the moment he saw him, gaze darting along his very much inhuman features.
The gentle smile on Azoth's lips stretched, an amusing idea worming its way into his mind. The hand on Eula's blade tightened ever so slightly, instantly creating fissures through the claymore.
"Fatui Harbinger Number Zero—"
"The Revenant."