344 - Manifestation [Sturmblitz] (Patreon)

And so, many of those disciples who had gathered here did leave. Many others remained, observing from beyond the boundary. A small handful walked into the boundary, and disappeared. Two were expelled immediately, one covered in deep wounds and the other seemingly having gone feral.

“Fools. I said those to whom this Truth speaks, but no, they never listen…” Nesgon grumbled as he single handedly overpowered the duo, paralyzing them by striking their pressure points. His shriveled fingers pierced the first disciple’s flesh as if it was cardboard, eliciting an apologetic hiss of sympathy and causing him to be more gentle with the second man. After examining them, Nesgon let out a relieved chuckle.

“Normally, the backlash would’ve damaged or even destroyed large swathes of their cultivation… But these morons had none to begin with. They will recover.”

He then dragged them off to be treated, purposely leaving out the fact there was a miniscule chance that this experience might end up benefiting the two in the future.

Over the next several days, most of those who had gone in returned, covered in bites and scratches. A few of them now had an animalistic shine in their eyes, including the scorchlander Mata Gano, two of the eagle-men who were named Ehecatle and Toltecatl, and four Ikesian outer disciples who had not exhibited any particular inborn talent besides an incredible dedication to the fundamentals of Sturmblitz Kunst 0. Seven in total. They inevitably gathered, sparring together with heretofore unseen savagery.

The illusory world manifested by the Truth of Fangs continued growing upwards until it reached the top of the central spire, at first seeping into the sect’s barrier. Not long after this, long tendrils of blurriness, like a heat-haze, began leaking from the spire’s top, and were soon joined by silvery Fog. They formed the apparition of an enormous, toothy snake skull, with backward-pointing antlers protruding above its prominent brow ridges. It appeared as if the apparition was a direct expansion of the sect’s transformed, opaque barrier.

Despite being the skull of a serpent, it was a strongly-built, wide thing, with two rows of gigantic teeth, huge fangs folded between the rows, and protruding anchor points for powerful jaw muscles on the outside of the skull. Gradually, this enormous serpent skull grew backwards to form itself a body, growing into a muscular snake hundreds of meters long with armor-like scales. Its burning eyes, like searchlights, swept over the city, and it silently watched over its domain. Strangely, this caused very little panic, with the apparition exuding a strange sense of safety; there was fear, but somehow, being aware of the giant snake also meant being aware of the fact it posed no threat to Willowdale or its people. Those few in the city who were familiar with arcane wildlife recognized the basis for the snake, despite the fact the real animal didn’t have antlers and had not been documented in over two centuries. In modernity, it was simply named the Ikesian Giant Viper, but had been referred to by myriad names in the past. One among them was “River Carver Serpent”, as it was believed to carve rivers with its body due to the channels it left behind. In the same vein was the “Sculptor Snake” due to their nesting habit of carving nests straight into solid rock with their enormous physical strength and iron-hard scales. Last and perhaps most self-explanatory, was "Bear-eater Snake". 

Perhaps the most profound effect of this manifestation was on animals. Pets and livestock were the first to be affected; as if possessed, they all attempted to approach the Newman Sect, gazing up towards the antlered snake. Even those who couldn’t come still looked in that direction.

Wild beasts soon emerged from the forests surrounding the city.

From the smallest to the greatest. Hares, foxes, wildcats, wolves, bears, snakes big and small, and countless strange animals that were alien to the common folk and were oft unseen due to their eclectic or dangerous habitats. A small army of beasts gathered, just close enough to be within view, and as the illusory serpent swept its gaze over them, they returned to the forest all the same. On that day’s evening, the gigantic serpent descended with the sun, coiling down the central spire’s length and then across the rest of the sect’s roof. The manifestation vanished soon after, leaving behind a winding, serpentine glyph-pattern that looked as if it had always been a part of the roof tiles.

The illusory world within the spire had also receded. As the sect members inevitably filed back in, with many running to retrieve some possession or other from their quarters, they found things to have changed. The founder’s Truth had left its mark upon the spire’s interior as well, warping all animal iconography. Horses changed into predatory beasts, regardless of whether they were whole statues or small details on water faucets. Some were sneering and angry, while others appeared calm and regal, depending largely on the original. Lions, tigers, snakes, wolves, false drakes and dragons, bears, all these visages were to be found, but so were the countenances of alien monsters born purely from the Truth of Fangs. The wood, too, had been affected, with strange glyphs seemingly scraped into it with ragged claws, yet also possessing precision worthy of a skilled craftsman.

Zefaris received an aetherwave message soon after, disappearing into the elder’s quarters. She emerged soon after with two messages: The first was a message of reassurance, confirming that Zelsys was still consolidating her foundation. The second was a request for several things.

“Elder Zelsys will require double food portions for the next three weeks, five liters each of sect-formulation Liquid Vigor and Witch’s Brew, half a liter of Eisengeist’s blood, blades which have been used for violence regardless of their metal grade, a stylus made of Eisengeist’s bone, and bones from the Wildfire Kite.”

There were no questions. People scattered, gathering the relevant resources. Meanwhile, Nesgon, being the only individual in the sect to understand the central spire’s function, meticulously went up and down cataloguing the strange markings. Seeing his plight, and eager to focus on something other than Zel’s predicament, Zefaris began assisting him, using her left eye to scan sections of wall and replicating them on paper.

Soon, they both came to a realization.