Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 443: Ryun

Skreen

Ryun leaned his face on his palm as they waited, sitting on the edge of the territory. Nayra had pulled out an open tent out of her storage and set it up, along with chairs and a small table. She had a chess board on top of it that they were lazily playing. It had almost been a day of waiting, and even chess could get old quick.

Of course, while he was paying some attention to what was in front of him, |Divided Mind| let the bigger part of his mind focus on everything around him. His skill had sharpened, gotten stronger in every way. |I Perceived By My Will| was exactly what it sounded like. He could sense anything that he willed. If he wanted to focus on only a single type of Essence, he could, if he wanted to increase his range he could, if he wanted to narrow it down he could.

The territory around they were in was very interesting, and Ryun was getting a lot of information. The main part of it was a valley, one that appeared to his perception very similar to the one that housed War's army. Which made sense, they knew that the camp location was locked in place with the Real Realm, and the Ethereal was a mirror of the Real Realm, only one that always moved and changed. Places in the Ethereal flowed and could be nowhere near their counterparts in the Real Realm.

What Ryun had gathered so far had given him some idea as to what was actually happening and how the Grey Horde planned on bringing the spirit army through. Though it had taken him a while to figure it out.

"You know a lot about skreen forms, right?" Ryun asked.

Nayra glanced up from the board, then moved a piece before answering. "Yes, why?"

Her family employed a lot of skreen, people that were now part of his sect. But the Third Empire in general had all the hives that had escaped the core.

"There is a hive nearby, a large one," Ryun said slowly as he moved his own piece. "There is a lot of queens birthing new skreen, they don't feel right to me."

Nayra raised an eyebrow, she glanced out of their tent at the group of people some distance away. Their... hosts, had increased in number. There was around two dozen of them now, not all skreen, keeping watch.

"They can't hear," Ryun said, he kept the area around their tent soaked in Oblivion, with his intent he destroyed any Essence that attempted to leave or enter their tent, the only thing he let out was his perception.

"Don't feel right how?" Nayra asked.

"They are smaller, and they don't seem to be doing anything, they just sit there," Ryun answered, then focused his perception on one of the skreen that he hadn't seen before. "They have the same general shape as the basic skreen form, but only a single antennae on top of their head."

Nayra frowned. "Smaller and only one antenna? Hm..."

"You recognize the form?" Ryun asked.

She nodded, a tad bit uncertainty. "How much do you know about the skreen before the Infinite Realm?"

Ryun blinked. "Not much," he answered. "Just what everyone knows, mostly that they shared the homeworld with the kreacean."

Nayra glanced out of the tent at their watchers, then back to Ryun.

"You are aware of the common belief that skreen can't use Cultivation? It is somewhat the truth, you don't need just knowledge in order to progress properly. For Cultivation, as you very well know, you need a sense of individuality. Every Path is different, personal. The reason why skreen take up Classes more often than not is because they are easier to obtain, you need only to fulfill certain conditions in order to gain them. As far as that form... I've heard stories, when I was young, I don't know how true they are."

She gave him a long look, and he nodded, indicating for her to keep going.

"When the Framework arrived, the skreen didn't adapt very well. Primarily because they were a hive mind, the bulk of their people were a worker class that had little individuality and agency, they relied on the orders from their queens. From what I heard, they literally couldn't make decisions on their own, so they weren't able to use the Framework to its fullest. Only their Champion forms and their Queens were able to utilize it. And so, they abandoned that form and fashioned new ones, the one that we see in the Infinite Realm was created after the Framework arrived, or so at least the story goes. They were given more autonomy, an individuality, but that also lessened their hive mind, it turned it more into a loose link of individuals. It robbed the skreen of their biggest strength, their hive mind. But they did what they always do, adapt."

"They did this in every Iteration?" Ryun asked, surprised.

"You've noticed that there are differences between the skreen from different hives? That is because each hive came up with different solutions. The Blue Forest Hive's skreen are very different than those from the Triumphant Hive."

"That is interesting, but what does it have to do with this new form?" Ryun asked.

"Old form," Nayra corrected. "If it is what I think. The description you gave sounds a lot like what the stories of their old worker form looks like. I don't know why they would start birthing that form though. It's not even sentient, not in any real sense."

Ryun blinked, and then things clicked into place. His perception washed over the valley in the distance, the entire place was heavily warded, but he could pierce through it with his new skill perk, Piercing Perception. There were arrays everywhere, even some formations. The hive spread far beyond the ground, with massive caves filled with newborn skreen just sitting there.

There were only a few places in the valley that were so deeply warded that he couldn't see through, but what he could see painted the picture.

"I think that I know," Ryun said slowly. He couldn't tell what the arrays did, but he could identify some of the formations. They were doing something to these new skreen.

"Care to share?" Nayra asked.

Ryun shook his head. "Later, we are about to have company."

He had felt an army surround the entire territory hours ago, scouts had scraped every league of it, searching for anything out of place. Ryun's and Nayra's presence here had not been met with calm, obviously.

And now he could feel a flying castle entering his outer range, heading straight for them. It was warded enough that he couldn't pierce the center chamber, but it didn't matter. Grey Horde was standing on its prow, looking ahead.

Ryun turned his attention back to the board and continued playing until the shadow of the castle moved over them. He didn't react until a small army came down from it, some on ships, others on their own wings.

"So," Nayra started. "What do you think the chances are that they are going to attack us?"

"None," Ryun answered immediately.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow, then nodded in the direction where a small group had gathered and then headed in their direction. "I'm pretty sure that is Trklak, the Horde Itself, I don't think that she sends him to talk."

Ryun chuckled and made another move. "Check, and I very much doubt that they would bring an army if they really intend to fight, not us," he said. "I don't think that Grey Horde would make that mistake."

Nayra tilted her head. "I guess," she moved her king, and Ryun followed. The group reached their tent and Ryun pulled back his Qi, allowing them through.

Trklak, the Horde Itself, walked up to them.

"Sect Head, Sect Leader," he said bowing over one set of fists.

Ryun glanced in his direction and inclined his head. "Champion," he greeted back.

"My Queen wishes to speak with you, she is waiting above," he pointed at the castle looming above them.

Ryun picked up a piece on the board and made a move. "Checkmate."

Nayra grimaced. "Damn," she said then they both stood up. With a brush of her fingers, she stored the board, the table, and then the chairs into her storage.

"We'll follow," Ryun said, and the skreen lead them to an airship.

The ride was silent, the skreen barely even moving, except for their antennae which twitched constantly. He didn't need to see it in order to know that they were constantly talking. Their telepathy was Essence, Thought, Mind, mixed in with something that he wasn't fully familiar with. The Essence was snapping in between them, visible to his eyes, but also detectable by his sense. Though he couldn't tell what they were talking about, he could imagine.

They landed in the big corridor, the waiting party already there. Grey Horde stood in the center, surrounded by two more War Queens. There were other skreen a bit farther away, but it seemed like the queen would meet them personally.

Trklak led the way bowed to his queen, then took position to the side.

For a moment Ryun and Grey Horde just looked at each other, and for once Ryun didn't have to look up, as she was about his height.

Then, as he felt the silence stretch he bowed. "Your majesty," he greeted, he was the guest after all, it was proper.

"Sect Head," she inclined her head. "Your... presence here is unexpected."

"Well," Ryun started. "It was not perfectly planned, but it was necessary. We needed to speak with you, it is a matter of some importance."

One of the War Queen's at her side stiffened, her antennae twitching and a rapid fire exchange happened between her and the Grey Horde.

Then, Grey Horde shook her head and spoke.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she said with a sigh.

The War Queen on her shoulder glanced in her direction, almost surprised. "My Queen?"

"I said that it doesn't matter," Grey Horde repeated, probably continuing their conversation out loud. She met Ryun's eyes and spoke. "My commander says that we shouldn't risk you being here for long, that you might discover more than we want you to. But it doesn't matter anymore, doesn't it? It hasn't mattered since you arrived here."

Ryun gave her a weak smile. "It doesn't, there are very few secrets that can be kept from me."

Grey Horde shook her head. "This is a very hard spot you've put me in. Anybody else, would've been dead already. The only reason you are not is because I am not certain I can kill you fast enough, before you kill many of my own people or cause enough noise that this place is revealed. So, I hope that what you need to speak with me is important enough, because risk or not, I am not letting you leave without an oath."

Ryun inclined his head. "That is perfectly reasonable."

Grey Horde tilted her head. "I am very much interested in knowing how exactly you bypassed all of our defenses, how you crossed the border and into the heart of my lands without anyone noticing?"

"Easy," Ryun answered. "We came through the Ethereal."

Grey Horde blinked, then her expression got more guarded. "Why?"

"I think that we should move somewhere more private for that conversation," Ryun told her.

For a moment, she didn't move, and then she gestured and sent orders with her telepathy. "Follow me."