I. The Hive
Absolutum descended into the Crypts of St. Kael. The air here did not smell of rot. It smelled of ammonia and burning ozone.
The stone walls of the Second Level were gone, buried beneath a thick, secreted resin that had hardened into a biomechanical lattice. It looked like the ribs of a massive beast turned inside out.
[ENVIRONMENT ALERT: Foreign Colonization Detected.] [SUBSTANCE ANALYSIS: Polymerized Resin. Acidic Residue.]
Absolutum moved through the shadows. The "Normalization Protocol" was active, making him look like a standard armored mercenary, but beneath the chainmail, the violet marrow in his bones was humming.
He reached a central burial chamber. The sarcophagi had been broken open, not for loot, but to create nesting grounds.
From the resin-coated ceiling, moisture dripped. Hiss. The droplet hit the stone floor and smoked.
Absolutum looked up.
They were there. Blending perfectly with the black resin. Elongated, eyeless heads. Ribbed, exoskeleton torsos. Long, segmented tails tipped with bone-scythes.
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: Xeno-Stalkers (Hive Drone Variant).] [COUNT: 6.] [THREAT: High. Acidic Blood. Piercing Tails.] [SYSTEM ASSESSMENT: Cartilage-based endoskeleton. Bone Density: Low. VALUE: TRASH.]
II. The Override
The System dismissed them. They were soft inside, pressurized by fluid rather than supported by dense calcium.
Absolutum watched a drone unfurl its tail. The vertebrae of the tail were interlocked with a mechanical precision that allowed for 360-degree flexibility, yet it could stiffen instantly to drive the blade through plate armor.
He watched a droplet of saliva burn a hole through a stone paver.
System error, Absolutum thought. You see trash. I see chemistry. I see geometry.
[HOST QUERY: Explain value.]
The acid is a weapon. The tail is a perfect kinetic whip. The spine is a tension engine.
[RE-EVALUATION: Unstable biological agents. Harvest risks structural dissolution.]
Then we force it.
Absolutum stepped into the light. He didn't vibrate his vocal cords. He tapped his new Dwarven Ribcage with a mandible-finger. Clack.
The six Xeno-Stalkers dropped. They moved like oil, fluid and terrifyingly fast.
III. The Acid Test
The first Stalker lunged, its inner jaw snapping out to puncture his helm.
Absolutum didn't block. He twisted.
The Iron-Barrel Cage (Dwarven Ribs) absorbed the torque as he spun his torso 90 degrees. The inner jaw snapped at empty air.
Absolutum drove his Anchor Leg (Porcupine) into the ground and whipped his right arm out. He didn't punch; he used the mandible-scalpels on his fingers like a claw. He slashed the Stalker's throat.
Green blood sprayed out in a pressurized jet.
Hiss!
The acid coated Absolutum's arm. His chainmail dissolved instantly. The Elven radius and ulna beneath began to smoke.
[WARNING: CORROSIVE DAMAGE. BONE INTEGRITY FALLING.]
Absolutum didn't retreat. He grabbed the dying alien by the neck, holding it close, letting the acid soak into his ribs, his arms, his spine.
"...Drink..." he commanded the System.
[CRITICAL WARNING: ACID DETECTED.] [COUNTERMEASURE: NEUTRALIZE?]
"...No. Adapt..."
He forced his Marrow Aura outward. The violet energy met the green acid. Instead of fighting it, Absolutum forced his marrow to analyze the chemical composition.
It burns because it is hungry. Make my bones hungrier.
[FORCED ADAPTATION INITIATED.] [SYNTHESIZING ACID-RESISTANT ENZYMES...] [MARROW UPDATE: pH Threshold lowered to 0.5.]
The smoking stopped. His bones turned a dark, glossy grey where the acid had touched them. They weren't dissolving anymore; they were drinking the caustic fluid.
[NEW TRAIT ACQUIRED: Caustic Marrow. Host blood/marrow is now acidic. Resistance to corrosion acquired.]
One down. Five to go.
IV. The Harvest of Six
The remaining five Stalkers shrieked and swarmed.
Absolutum engaged the Shadow Spring (Deer Leg). He vanished.
He reappeared in the air, driving his heavy Anchor Leg through the skull of the second Stalker. Crunch.
He landed, spinning low. The third Stalker tried to stab him with its tail. Absolutum caught the tail with his mandible-hand, ignoring the acid burn, and ripped it off. He used the severed tail as a whip to decapitate the fourth.
The fifth and sixth tried to flee. Absolutum fired a Toxic Quill from his shin. It punched through the fifth one's chest. The Bulldog Ant neurotoxin mixed with the alien physiology, causing it to seizure and dissolve from the inside out.
The last one he caught by the throat. He crushed its windpipe.
Silence returned to the hive. Six bodies.
V. The Bone Forge
Absolutum stood amidst the carnage. He didn't just want to wear their bones; he wanted to build an arsenal.
[AVAILABLE MATERIALS: 6 Xeno-Carcasses.] [KEY COMPONENTS: Segmented Tails (x6), Spinal Columns (x6), Pressurized Acid Sacs (x6).]
He dragged the bodies into a pile. He sat down, engaging Plasticity Induction.
Project 1: The Tail.
He ripped the spine and tail out of the largest Stalker. He turned around and pressed the alien spine against his own coccyx (tailbone).
"...Integrate..."
The System fused the vertebrae. Absolutum's spine elongated. A three-foot, segmented bone tail grew from his lower back. It wasn't just dead weight; he could feel the muscles—or the spiritual equivalent—connect. He twitched it. It lashed out, cracking the resin floor.
[COMPONENT: Prehensile Bone Tail. Function: Balance / Striking.]
Project 2: The Bone Katanas.
He took the tails of two other Stalkers. He stripped the flesh, leaving the razor-sharp, segmented bone cores.
He held them in his hands, pushing his Aura into them. He willed them to straighten, to harden. The segments fused into a single, slightly curved blade, serrated on the back edge. He coated them in the acid from the sacs, forcing the bone to absorb the corrosion so they would burn whatever they cut.
[CRAFTING COMPLETE: Dual Acid-Bone Katanas.] [GRADE: Rare. Effect: Corrosive Slice.]
Project 3: The Bone Bow.
He took the spinal column of the last two Stalkers. He fused them end-to-end, creating a long, flexible arc. For the string, he used the elastic tendons from the Stalkers' inner jaws.
It was a grotesque weapon, a bow made of vertebrae that looked like it might snap at you if you held it wrong.
[CRAFTING COMPLETE: Vertebrae Recurve Bow.] [GRADE: Uncommon. Draw Weight: 400 lbs (Requires Anchor Leg to draw).]
VI. The Living Arsenal
Absolutum stood up, holding his new weapons. He looked for a sheath or a strap.
[SYSTEM ALERT: External Carry Inefficient. Risk of Disarmament High.] [PROPOSAL: Skeletal Docking.] [LOGIC: Weapons are bone. Host is bone. Weapons should reside within the chassis until required.]
Absolutum understood. He didn't carry tools; he was the toolbox.
He pressed the Dual Bone Katanas against his thighs (Femurs). He pressed the Vertebrae Bow against his spine.
"...Dock..."
The System engaged. His own bones softened slightly, opening like flesh wounds.
The Katanas sank into his thighs. The bone closed over them, sealing them inside his legs. He felt his legs get heavier, denser. The Bow fused to his back, locking over his existing spine like a second layer of armored vertebrae.
[COMBAT ENCOUNTER: CEASED.] [INITIATING NORMALIZATION...]
The System hummed. The bulging ridges where the weapons were stored smoothed out. The Tail coiled and retracted into his pelvic cavity.
To the naked eye, he was just a skeleton in chainmail. He carried no weapons. But inside his femurs, the blades waited. On his back, the bow slept.
[ARSENAL INTEGRATION COMPLETE.] [STATUS: Armed and Hidden.] [ACID RESISTANCE: 100%.] [CURRENT WEAKNESS: Arms. The Elven arm bones are fracturing under the internal pressure of the stored arsenal.]
Absolutum looked at his trembling forearms. The weapons were powerful, but his current chassis was struggling to contain them. He needed the Alpha. He needed the Praetorian.
He looked deeper into the hive.
"...More..."