Chapter 640 (1/2)

There was a sudden explosion of smog that filled the area of the battlefield, but the Propagator didn’t bother to pursue the gene fodder that fled away from it. To its surprise, the three that had been present within its Domain survived, and had enough strength to walk away. Even the intriguing one amongst them, that was able to directly resist a portion of its Domain, moved with surprising quickness.

Through the smog, the Propagator’s focus narrowed on that individual. The Propagator could feel his bare feet slapping against the ground. A group of Wights stumbled upon him, but they were basic drones that were incapable of threatening him. With surprising grace, he dispatched them without losing any momentum.

In the chest of its arcbody, the Propagator rubbed its antennae together. Instantly, the Wights shifted, parting before the escaping forces. The spear users were profoundly foolish and almost superstitious about the existence of the Propagators. This was purposeful on the part of the Wights, of course. It was easier to have them jumping at shadows than addressing the real threat.

Plus, this meant that this group would flee directly back towards the position of strength of the spear users. They would be traced, and then the true offensive of the Wights could begin. The Propagator was relatively low in influence among its class, but that still was far above these toys.

Thinking of their soft bodies and inefficient construction, the Propagator felt a flash of hunger, but it restrained that impulse.

Then, just to check, the Propagator rubbed its antennae together in a different manner. A much higher pitched noise emerged. A noise so high on the frequency spectrum that it was almost impossible that any of these spear users would be able to detect it.

The intriguing gene resource stumbled as the fragments of crystals in his body vibrated in response to the high frequency. Would he notice? Well, even if he did it would be difficult to remove; even the smallest bit remaining in his body would allow the Propagator to track the gene fodder across the world.

That was a great weakness of those empowered by the System, and why the Propagators developed the way they did. It was difficult to remove tiny debris that became a part of the body from a deep wound. The body would naturally heal around the wounds, but that ended up being a detriment in this case. Part of the healing process was the allowance for items like these to be expelled.

The fleeing spear users made it to their boat and began to sail quickly away. Altogether, only 7 of them had made it. Sparing a longing glance for those that escaped, the Propagator moved towards the bodies of those that had died here. It wasn’t the genetic material that it desired, but it would have to suffice.

For now.

*****

Drake knew that this was the worst week of his life. The journey towards the World Crater from the floating city was a slow one. The captain of the skyship assured him that this was just because of the season, and the winds were almost directly blowing out of the World Crater.

“Honestly,” The captain said in a cheap attempt to comfort Drake. “Be glad the wind is blowing this way! During other months, the thing acts as a giant whirlwind; nearby vessels are sucked right into it. That’s why it is sometimes referred to as the Maw of the Sea.”

Not comforted at all, Drake maintained his firm grip on the heavy wooden railing.

The skyship that Drake was on was called Slipstream, and like all the other skyships that Drake had seen, were relatively small. This vessel could comfortably fit a dozen people and could make do with as few as four. The ship was made from a wooden frame that was something akin to the skeleton of a whale with a platform on top. The top platform was where the deck was, as well as the three sails: one straight upward and one to the left and right.

Below that, in the ‘ribcage’ of the whale, were the sailors’ cabins and other assorted rooms that were necessary for this many people grouped together. Below that was a small cell for the rare prisoner and the cargo hold. The hold took up most of the space of the ship and gave the lie of the large size of the skyship.

Drake had been on the ship for two days now and had only access to a space about the size of the basketball court.

Still, it wasn’t like he wanted to wander around. It would have been interesting in an abstract way to see the Aviator and his Skills at work, but Drake didn’t care so much. The Aviator was a Class, or a variant type, that provided most of the lift for the skyship. The process seemed to be a mixture of ionizing the strange fabric that was covering the skyship and controlling nearby winds, but it worked.

Well, after a fashion. Their flight was remarkably loopy. One sailor assured Drake that this was simply them riding up on columns of hot air and gliding downwards to save energy, but every time they shot upwards on the air currents his stomach did flip-flops. During that time, Drake was careful not to go towards the edge of the boat.

Especially after he had already looked off the edge of those sky docks and saw the distant ground… Even remembering it now, Drake couldn’t help but shudder.