Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor

Nareth returned to the palace. The Gyrinx dangling between his two fingers was over a meter long, the largest among the thirty-six.

Its bright eyes stared intently at Nareth, sensing the intimidating aura emanating from the black-armored giant.

Its ginger-yellow fur stood on end. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and let out a screech.

Along with the screech, the Primarch felt as if a massive stone had slammed into his chest.

His towering figure didn't so much as flinch.

'A "Psionic Strike" of the telepathic discipline.'

As he pondered, the Gyrinx let out another shriek. Flames erupted, smashing toward his arm.

'Flame Blast'? Trying to force me to drop you, then follow up with "Freeze Time"?'

'For an unbonded Gyrinx, this three-spell combo is fairly reasonable.'

'Though gifted with powerful psychic abilities, Gyrinxs had low intelligence and couldn't use their spells well, pulling off a three-cast sequence was already a decent tactic.'

In an instant, Nareth had already deciphered the spells used. He flicked his arm slightly, and the flame barely grazed his armor, slamming into the obsidian floor with a loud boom that made the entire palace tremble.

At the same time, Nareth pinched with two fingers, and the Gyrinx let out a pained cry.

A moment later, Nareth returned to his chamber, staring down at the now-weakened creature in his hand.

His black eyes locked onto its sapphire-like pupils, and his consciousness expanded, reaching into the ginger-yellow body.

The Gyrinx's mental landscape resembled its curled-up body, like a ball of tangled yarn.

Nareth's consciousness slipped between the strands of ginger fluff and sensed its core longing: 'A deep, innate desire, for a master, for a home.'

His presence became a warm, gentle hand that touched the cat's mind.

Its bristling fur slowly settled, and the fear vanished from its sapphire gaze.

Though it was no true feline, it now lay in his palm like a contented house cat.

The Gyrinx had found what it needed, only warmer, more comforting than before.

Surrounded by Nareth's powerful psionic field, it felt secure.

What others might need weeks to achieve, forming a psychic bond, he completed in mere minutes.

Nareth selectively revealed his rarely seen gentle side, forming the bond while cautiously exposing only a sliver of his mind.

Even so, the Gyrinx changed almost instantly, its sapphire eyes now tinged with black.

He knew Gyrinxs slowly adopted their master's biology, temperament, and even habits.

On the very same day Nareth bonded with his cat, Arsenna and Diana began forming their own bonds.

Arsenna, though not as powerful as Nareth, used telekinesis to block attacks and tightly restrain the brown Gyrinx he had been given.

He estimated it would take him ten work cycles to form the connection.

Diana, however, faced greater difficulties.

Her assigned cat was the weakest of the thirty-six, still juvenile, only 58 cm long, with just one known biomancy spell: Accelerate Metabolism.

Even so, the flagship captain ran into serious issues.

Within hours, her heart rate increased, she felt hunger pangs, and her body temperature rose by three degrees.

She suspected that, without the protective orb Nareth had given her, she would have died.

Thanks to the orb, the effects were mild. Without physiological monitoring gear, she might have mistaken them for fatigue.

After a full checkup on the medical deck revealed no major issues, she decided to temporarily hand off the task of installing the aether cannon to the ship's gunnery chief.

The captain then took a more proactive approach, trying to tame the Gyrinx herself.

She began with a method popular among nobles on Terra: bonding by strolling with the pet.

She ordered her attendants to bring emergency-grade pet food processed from Symphony of the Sea rations.

After a moment's hesitation, she bit her lip and bravely picked up the Gyrinx.

The gunship lifted off from the Throne of Shadow's Soveriegnity, which was docked for aether cannon upgrades and skimmed the surface of Vostroya's satellite.

Diana observed the cat in her arms. It only bared its teeth occasionally.

Every time it did, sweat soaked a part of her body beneath the armored suit.

Clutching the cat with her right arm, she wiped her forehead with her left hand.

Then she pointed forward. "Land in that canyon."

Her adjutant checked his data pad and reported:

"My lady, that was once a mining pit. The local ore bore lunar-pattern markings and was called Moonstone.

"The Primarch was interested in it, so it was heavily mined when the orbital shipyards were built.

"Once depleted, it left behind this canyon. The miners assembled a crude 'moon' from ordinary stone before leaving."

Hearing that Nareth had once taken interest in this ore only made Diana more curious.

She donned her breathing mask and gently placed a specialized breather canister on the cat, custom-made by a techmarine.

Her guards disembarked first, establishing a perimeter. Only then did she exit the gunship with the Gyrinx in her arms.

Diana looked at the "moon" the miners had built, silver moonstones assembled into a round sculpture.

"I've never seen Luna from the hive cities of Terra," she said. "But books say it once looked like a silver plate. Even from a ship, we can see its shining disc."

"Indeed," her adjutant agreed.

She then focused on the cat in her arms. It showed no signs of joy from leaving the ship.

Frowning, she set the cat down on the silver disc.

The miners had skillfully assembled the sculpture from polished ore, the platform didn't move at all under the cat's weight.

After a moment's thought, Diana tried a childhood trick: picking up a small rock and tossing it toward the cat.

As the flagship captain, she should have cleared the area before doing something so undignified.

But the Gyrinx wasn't tamed yet. It might try to flee, and the guards' stun guns could immobilize it if needed.

The stone flew just past the cat's paw. It only needed to reach out to touch it, but it didn't move.

Diana took it on a stroll through the hollowed canyon and tried feeding it back aboard the gunship, but it showed no interest in anything.

Finally, she gave up in frustration, just as the 7th Chapter returned to Vostroya, and the Throne of Shadow's Soveriegnity slowly docked at the spaceport.

After hearing briefings from Chapter Masters like Sanchez and Szczesny, Nareth used Spirit Vision and questioning to confirm that Sanchez and four other "Hunters" had completed their assimilation.

He ordered them to deliver all Nal grubs and Taelids' eyes to the palace, then wait outside.

He returned to the Kingdom of Disorder to prepare a new batch of "Provoker" potion using the Colossal Squig, a primary ingredient far beyond the minimum threshold.

According to known alchemical principles, higher-quality ingredients yielded stronger potions, though the boost was minor.

So far, Nareth hadn't seen dramatic differences from such upgrades.

He brought the amber-trapped Squig to the furnace.

With a mental command, he ordered the Jokaero to follow the "Provoker" formula.

Then, he infused the silver gauntlet with spiritual energy.

Golden light flared. At his will, the Colossal Squig was released from stasis.

It roared in confusion.

Nareth noticed something odd: freeing the beast consumed less spiritual energy than imprisoning it.

'Is it because freeing is inherently cheaper than imprisonment?'

He sent out a psychic shockwave.

The behemoth didn't even have time to understand what was happening before collapsing unconscious.

By then, the other potion ingredients were ready. The stunned Jokaero stared blankly as Nareth tossed the massive creature into the eleven-meter-wide furnace.

It fit perfectly.

With a chemical hiss, the Colossal Squig began to dissolve.

Once Sanchez and the four new "Provokers" departed, Nareth sat on the obsidian throne, comparing their differences.

'After ascending, Sanchez was clearly stronger than the other Shadows of Order, but this can't be purely due to the potion.'

'He was already exceptional, the only Terran-born to truly awaken "Warp Insight," just like Howard was the only Vostroyan to do the same.'

Nareth furrowed his brow, sifting through every detail. Judging by their auras and presence, the enhanced potion offered an estimated 4–11% boost compared to the standard version.

'That's within the range of "minor" gains.'

Then he reconsidered:

'What defines "quality"? Not just size, the Colossal Squig must've contained far more spiritual essence than an ordinary Squig. Extrapolating, higher Sequences likely differ in quality of essence, not just quantity.'

Tapping his fingers on the throne, Nareth concluded:

'If possible, I should always use the best ingredients for potion-making'

'Of course, if I have no choice, it's not worth delaying progress for a marginal boost.'

'Advancing Sequences is the true qualitative leap. These tiny boosts only matter when you're already an elite; only then does "best of the best" truly matter.'

Having reached this conclusion, Nareth sent a message summoning Diana to meet him.

...

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

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