I. The Weapon's Edge & The Internal Sheath
Absolutum stood in the marsh, the mud settling around his armored shins. His new Omni-Vane Wings were retracted, folded flat and hidden inside the hollowed cavities of his Orc scapulae. He was a machine built for war, a composite of apex predators, but his tools—the very instruments of his violence—needed refinement.
He reached down with his right Void-Forged Arm. The obsidian chitin gleamed with a dark, oily luster in the dim light. He tapped his thigh, the point of contact ringing dull and heavy.
"...Deploy..."
The bone of his right Femur split open along a natural, fused seam. The hilt of a Bone Katana emerged, pushed out by the hydraulic pressure of his marrow. He gripped it and pulled.
Scrrrraaaaape.
It slid out of his leg with a rasping, dry sound that vibrated unpleasantly through his pelvic girdle.
The blade was sharp, crafted from his own condensed Elven bone. But as he drew it, he felt the microscopic grating of the weapon against the inside of his femur. It was a sensation of self-cannibalism—the tool wearing down the container.
[WARNING: FRICTION DETECTED.] [LOCATION: Right Femur Marrow Cavity.] [ANALYSIS: Drawing the weapon shaves 0.01% of the internal bone wall. Repeated cycles will result in structural thinning and eventual fracture.]
Absolutum paused, holding the blade. He was storing a razor blade inside a cardboard tube.
I do not need new legs yet. I need to reinforce the container. A sword needs a scabbard, not a hole.
He looked at his own arm—the Void-Forged Chitin of the Praetorian. It was harder than steel, acid-proof, and possessed a naturally frictionless surface.
"...System... Upgrade Katanas... And the Dock..."
[RECALIBRATION INITIATED.] [RESOURCE ALLOCATION: Xenomorph Residue (High).]
The System began to process the command. It drew upon the remaining genetic material harvested from the hive, synthesizing the alien polymers within his marrow.
Weapon Upgrade (Void-Toxic Katanas): Material: The System transmuted the condensed Elven bone of the swords into hyper-dense, obsidian-black Void-Chitin. Attribute: Armor Piercing / Edge Retention. Payload: An internal capillary system was grown into the blade's core, linked to the marrow supply for on-demand Binary Poison injection (Acid/Neurotoxin). Structure Upgrade (Internal Void-Lining): Action: The System flooded the hollow marrow cavities of his Elven Femurs and the external ridges of his Iron-Coil Spine with liquid Void-Chitin. Result: The chitin hardened instantly, creating a sleek, black, diamond-hard Internal Scabbard fused directly to the calcium wall. Benefit: The weapons now slide against frictionless alien armor rather than raw bone.
[UPGRADE COMPLETE.] [FEMUR INTEGRITY: RESTORED (Internal Reinforcement Active).] [NOTE: This "Internal Sheath" trait has been written to the Marrow Code. Future bone replacements will automatically grow this protective lining.]
Absolutum gripped the new black hilt. He pressed his thumb against a slight ridge, activating the poison pump. A faint hiss emanated from the blade as a thin, viscous sheen—violet and green—coated the obsidian surface.
He slid the blade back into his leg. Snick.
Smooth. Silent. Zero friction. It felt like locking a bolt into a precision rifle.
II. The Recalibration of Balance
Absolutum took a step. He felt different. Heavier.
The addition of the Void-Lining inside his femurs and along his spine had added significant mass to his core structure. The internal armor was dense. His center of gravity had shifted slightly lower.
The weight is good. The distribution is uneven.
He felt the strain on his Elven Pelvis, which now sat between a heavy Iron-Coil Spine and heavy Void-Lined Femurs. It was the bridge between two fortresses, and it was creaking.
"...System... Re-engage Symmetry..."
[COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED.] [INITIATING SYSTEMATIC SYMMETRY PROTOCOL (ITERATION 2).]
The green Aura flared around him. The System analyzed the new density data from the Internal Void-Sheaths. It recognized that the "Elven" parts of his skeleton—specifically the pelvis, the neck, and the fingers—were lagging behind.
[DISTRIBUTING DENSITY LOAD...]
Absolutum felt a cold, tightening sensation run through his entire frame.
Pelvic Reinforcement: The System siphoned excess calcification from the massive Anchor Leg and redistributed it into the Elven Pelvis, thickening the iliac crests. Joint Equilibrium: The added mass of the Void-Lined Femurs required stronger connectors. The System thickened the knee and hip joints, ensuring the "ball" of the femur sat perfectly in the socket without grinding. Spinal Integration: The Void-Lining along the Iron-Coil Spine (for the bow) was balanced by adding density to the anterior (front) of the vertebrae.
[SYMMETRY COMPLETE.] [STRUCTURAL BALANCE: 100%.] [SKELETAL DENSITY: UNIFORM.]
Absolutum rolled his shoulders. The creaking was gone. He felt like a solid, singular unit of carved obsidian and iron.
III. The Visibility Problem
Absolutum hovered above the marsh, his Omni-Vane Wings vibrating. His new spherical vision allowed him to see the swamp in a perfect 360-degree grid of heat and motion.
But he also saw himself.
Looking down at his own body, he realized a critical flaw. He was a masterpiece of violence—black Void-Arms, white Snake-Spine, rusted Orc armor—but he was visible. He stood out against the green and brown of the swamp like a beacon of death. The gloss of his Void-Arms caught the moonlight.
To be an assassin, one must be a ghost.
He projected an image from his Martial Archive: The Chameleon.
"...System... Query..."
[SYSTEM LISTENING.]
I cannot grow skin. I cannot grow scales. I am bone and marrow. How do I apply the Chameleon's stealth to a skeleton?
[ANALYSIS: CHROMATIC ADAPTATION.] [INCOMPATIBILITY DETECTED: HOST HAS NO DERMAL LAYER.]
[ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION: OSTEOLOGICAL REFRACTION.] [THEORY: If the Host harvests the "Prismatic Cells" from a high-tier Chameleon variant, the System can etch the SURFACE of the skeleton itself with microscopic, light-bending grooves.] [MECHANISM: Active Camouflage via Refraction. The bone surface acts as a Fiber-Optic Prism. Instead of changing color, the bone bends environmental light around the structure, rendering the skeleton effectively transparent or mimicking the texture of the background.]
Absolutum nodded slowly. He wouldn't change color like a lizard; he would become a living mirror. Active Skeletal Camouflage.
"...Target?..."
[SCANNING DATABASE...] [TARGET FOUND: Mist-Veil Chameleon.] [LOCATION: Deep Canopy (Arboreal Zone).]
IV. The Engine of Life
Absolutum's thoughts shifted inward once more. His Regeneration was absolute—as long as he had atoms, he would return—but it was slow. It took precious seconds for his calcium to knit.
I am fixing cracks. I need to be flowing water. I need to heal faster than they can break me.
"...System... Upgrade Regeneration..."
[ANALYSIS: OSTEOGENESIS ACCELERATION.] [REQUIRED COMPONENT: Hyper-Mitosis Marrow.] [TARGET FOUND: The Swamp Hydra (Juvenile).] [LOCATION: Black-Root Sump (Submerged Zone).] [ATTRIBUTE: Multi-Head Regeneration. When a limb is severed, the bone matrix duplicates instantly to replace it.]
Absolutum clenched his Void-Fist.
"...The Chameleon for the Prism... The Hydra for the Marrow... The Owl for the Silence..."
He had his shopping list.
Mist-Veil Chameleon: For Prismatic Bone Etching. Great Horned Owl: For Silent Flight Feathers and Locking Talons. Swamp Hydra: For Hyper-Regenerative Marrow.
He adjusted his wings. The hunt was no longer random. It was a specific, calculated assembly of a god.
"...Begin..."