“Hello, little ones!” Vikalos beamed as the Thantir Decaylings all waited in the little classroom that had been set up a while back.
“Hello, mister Vikalos!” Talok bounced excitedly in her seat. “Where are mister Saahro and mister Elkay! We doing something different today?”
Vikalos nodded, then wandered around the classroom, handing out some strange, metallic rings, the size of which could be adjusted, one of which was a different colour, silver and orange instead of just silver. Everyone was given six rings, apart from Thassalin, who was given eight. Once everyone had their rings, Vikalos headed back to the front of the classroom.
“These look like they go around things…” Tanos muttered as he inspected the striped ring.
“Like a massive cock ring, hehehe!” Nyssi telepathically whispered, making Kayel snicker.
“These are omnishell suits!” Vikalos explained. “While a Flame like myself can protect myself from infectious Corruption, most folks are at high risk of infection, and even those with defensive powers can struggle and lose focus while protecting themselves. The omnishell suits are special devices that create a force field around your body, protecting you from harm so you can concentrate on more important things. The striped ring goes around your neck, and all the others go around your limbs, namely your wrists, feet and the tips of your tails.
“Normally, we do not need these for our purification services, as we work together to minimize spread and infection, and Elksia and Thassalin do a huge amount of covering our asses, however, most sects outside our eniapent use omnishell suits. They are expensive and had to get imported, but the Pentathax dropped off 200 of them yesterday as a thank you gift for some reason, so you all get to try them out!”
“Do you require us to put these on now?” Kuta queried. “I take it you want to take us on a field trip.”
“You’re absolutely right, Kuta. So far, you have all mostly done rather tame, low level physical training, but after discussions with Saahro and Elkay, we think you are ready for some proper Decay Lord training, doing the work of actual Voidborns. We’re going on a little trip to some old ruins, to clear out the Corruption there.”
Vikalos opened up his little hammer space and pulled out some sheets of paper. Again, he handed everything out, two sheets per Decayling.
“The first sheet of paper is an instructional guide on how to put your omnishell suits on. Thassalin, I know you are a Time Drake but-”
“Of course I’ll put the suit on!” Thassalin snarled. “I saw my original universe perish due to Corruption and was unable to stop it. I felt the Corruption try and steal the Child Drake’s mind. I understand the dangers.”
Vikalos paused. “Are you okay, Thassalin?”
“Why are you asking?”
“You haven’t ever spoken about your original universe before.”
Thassalin calmed down and sighed. “I don’t like to. The tainted darkness took everything. It killed my sister. It corrupted my mother. And it nearly got me. The only reason I am here is because Arkay managed to pull me out just in time, and destroyed the last remains of my universe so it couldn’t spread.”
“So that is why you call Arkay the Thantoepheron?” Kuta asked. “And not Thantophor like everyone else?”
“It means “He Who Has Brought Death” instead of just “Death Bringer” in Shadowtongue…” Kayel added. “It’s what us Skyavok believed would happen at the end of the universe, the Thantophor would become the Thantoepheron and silence a cold, dead universe, when entropy takes hold. Had no idea that it had… actually happened in another universe and our myths were at one point reality.”
Thassalin frowned some more. “To be fair, when you are aware of the multiverse, there are many Thantoepherons out there. It is just that Arkay is my personal Thantoepheron, the one who euthanised my corrupted home. And I very nearly saw it happen again.”
“Your pain is understandable, Thassalin!” Vikalos decided to try and build morale. “While yes, you lost your own home, as a Decay Lord, you can offer both safety and revenge for other universes, by destroying any Corruption you come across. That is why I have given you all these omnishell suits, because our field trip will be to a location to go and kill Corruption.”
“Many of us have faced Corruption first hand though…” Kuta seemed uneasy.
“Have you faced Corruption in zero gravity?” Vikalos asked. “I know you have fought against Corruption, but Corruption inside a universe is different to Corruption outside a universe. Most universes contain universal rules that slow a Corruption down. Out here, the Corruption is… louder and more invasive.”
“Still sounds dangerous…” Kuta muttered.
“You sound scared, former Below Twenty General and member of the Legion of Blades!” Phovoula tutted. “We’ve fought Corruption before. This won’t be THAT different.”
“I am not scared, just concerned. Yes, we have done this before, but it is still dangerous.”
“It is dangerous, I agree, Kuta. But as Decay Lords, we need to keep the Space Between Universes clean, so the Space Inside Universes remains uncorrupted. There are many Decay Lord sects that specifically hunt down and destroy Corruption. And now us Thantir are growing in number as well, we can assist in this eternal battle. Also, you get to kill and burn stuff, which might be fun.”
Kuta settled down. “Fair enough.”
“Do we just put the rings on?” Nyssi asked. “And after that, I assume it’s the typical outside-the-universe-magical-shit?”
Vikalos shrugged, them nodded, pulling several omnishell bands out of his pocket. “Basically. The orange collar has a button on it that, when held down, activates and deactivates the shields. This small gap here, if you hold it down, you can adjust the size. The shields need to be tight against the body… You have a question, Kayel?”
Kayel had his hand raised but put it back down. “Can I wear these over my wristbands or do they have to be against skin?”
“You can wear them over your clothes and armour, yes, they just need to be tight. Once the shield is activated, you can’t move the bands too much, and keeping them tight keeps the suit more secure.”
“Kyr Vikalos, where will we be going exactly?” Ret asked.
Vikalos didn’t answer at first. “I’ve heard you and Kuta both say “kyr” a lot, what does it mean?”
“It’s the gender-neutral equivalent of the word ‘Sir’! Rethans from our universe have everything kept as gender-neutral outside of parental figures.” Kayel answered in Ret’s place. “Oh. Sorry, I interrupted.”
“You answered better than I could anyway…” Ret muttered, then returned to his original question. “Is it far?”
“It’s a location on the edge of the Ventra Expanse. An abandoned Voidborn watchtower that a piece of the super common Pantolou strain of Corruption has latched on to. The Pentathax scouted the area out and said it would be good for training for us, and they have trained their own Decaylings on similar structures. This particular job should be nice and easy. Go in, burn everything, get out.”
“Hang on!” Tanos butted in. “Most of us here don’t have fire powers!”
“I know, yes. You will all be given fire weaponry to deal with the Corruption, but the goal here is to not just kill Corruption, but also create innovative new ways of using your powers to both protect yourselves and get the job done. After all, fire is the easiest method to kill Corruption, but Nyssi for example can create acidic toxins, and you, Tanos could use your electricity powers to create heat as well.”
“Do we have a plan?” Kuta asked. “Or at the very least intel on the site, as well as maps of the area where we will be working?”
“Of course we do!” Vikalos smiled. “They will be handed to you on the flight to work over. The watchtower is somewhat large, so we are splitting you into two teams. Nyssi will lead her team, with Kayel in charge of the burning, and Kuta, you will lead your team, with Phovoula doing the burning.”
Kuta grunted, not surprised but also not that happy. “Fine. At some point though, will we do excursions as a team of eight?”
“Eventually, yes.”
“So why do you keep on splitting us up?”
That smile faded somewhat. “The last time we applied for a team of Decaylings to do their trial, there was a lot of uncertainty. We are making sure you can work in smaller groups in case Overlord Deathven decides to split you up.”
Before anyone could comment further, Kaytee, dressed in full battle armour, appeared in the doorway.
“Heya boss. Ship’s all sorted and ready to go, just need to pick up my passengers!”
“Wonderful!” Vikalos clapped his hands together. All eight of you, get something to eat, read through the sheets I gave you, put your armour on, grab your weapons, then meet me and Kaytee by the Thantir Three in two hours.”