(III) Reforge

104 (III) Reforge “Tearing off heads sounds great to me. When are we doing this?"

"As soon as I can inform Uva of the situation. She should be prepared too. More importantly, we have to go over a few things related to the Inquisition, Aviary, Compact… Basically all the madness that has happened to us recently. We need to debrief ourselves before anything else. But we don’t have long. We have to be fast. We desperately need to know what Blackedge's situation is. All these resources, all this mithril treasure… I need to know what to buy and prepare first. The town has been besieged for weeks. Gods know how much damage it sustained, how many casualties there are.”

“You’re thinking of evacuating some people over to our gate,” Shiv said.

“If possible. And so, I want you as dangerous and prepared as you can possibly be for our first scouting run. Expect the System to be its usual horrible self and throw something we’re absolutely not prepared to fight, but we can make sure it strains itself doing so.”

Adam looked at Can Hu and studied the Penitent for a moment. "Penitent Can Hu, are you well enough for another synthesis?”

"I am," Can Hu said. But Shiv noticed a shiver run through the machine, and if even he noticed…

Adam sighed. "Can Hu, do not lie, and do not over-exert yourself. You have nothing to prove. More importantly, you've already finished two syntheses. We need you in an effective state not only for the synthesis, but also to rebuild the gate. You are not to break yourself. You have obligations to the rest of us too, no matter how you feel. Actually, I going to go there: You did not fail any of us by being disabled in battle, and you do not need to make up for it now. I understand you might not feel this way, but you must accept this. Whatever lack or regret in your performance, you are more valuable now as a crafter."

Can Hu's green optics narrowed and then brightened as he studied Adam.

"I was Penitent Chassis." Can Hu opened and closed a hand. "Now I do not know if I can even survive for more than a few seconds should Shiv use his Inertial Overdrive. Even with the bone adamantine armor as support, even with additional modifications made, I estimate my chances of surviving one of his inertial detonations to be sub-10 percent. I came to serve as armor once more, and now I'm unable to meet that function a mere day later."

"That's fine," Shiv interjected. "I don't care if you can't be my armor. We'll find another way. We'll figure something out for the Necromancy. But you're here with us now, and Adam's right. We want you functional. We don't want you broken. More importantly, we want you to get better. And maybe the Righteous Dawn Prevails might just do that. You want to be useful? You are. Right now.”

Can Hu fell silent for a moment. "It has strengthened my existing skills, but it does nothing for those that have been destroyed."

"Then we'll build you from the ground up," Adam said. "We'll see you reforged, despite the damage. Maybe you need armor yourself. An armor for an armor. To aid in your movements."

The Penitent fell silent once more. But when it spoke, it spoke with certainty. "I can perform one more act of synthesis. One more. I ask you to trust in me. I will not strain myself. I will not damage myself. But I have one more in me."

Adam and Shiv looked at each other uneasily, but it was Valor that became the deciding voice of the dilemma. "Let it try. Let it be. If it does not, it will damage its Path. It will wound Can Hu on a level deeper than a broken skill."

The Legendary Pathbearer looked to the Penitent, and slowly Can Hu turned and offered Valor the slightest of bows. "It is important that we all chase after shadows. Shadows of who we were, and shadows of whom we can be. Desperate or delusional, it is yearning that makes us what we can become."

And now, Adam let out a slight, shuddering breath. Finally, his reluctance succumbed. "Fine. One more. And I'll boost you as much as I can this time. But if you cannot do it, just let it collapse. We'd rather lose a few pieces of Equipment than a good crafter and a good Pathbearer."

Can Hu didn't acknowledge Adam’s state as it began shaping streams of liquid metal. Shiv pressed the topic. "Can Hu," Shiv said, without any particular rancor in his voice, "if I see you about to fall over, I'm going to make you stop. You are not killing yourself on my behalf. Adam letting you do this was his 'yes'. Well, this is mine. Do not break yourself. I’m not going to accept it. I’m still your pilot. Even if you can’t be worn right now.”

Can Hu looked at Shiv for a long, hard moment and said for the final time, "I am capable of one more synthesis."

Shiv clenched his jaw. "All right then, Pathbearer, prove it."

"Your components first," Can Hu declared. “I will see the deed done.”

Before Shiv could respond, Adam leaned in. "I have two suggestions here. Can Hu mixes a piece of Absence with your new dagger. At the same time, another fragment of Absence’s arcanite can go to your cloak when it is merged with Can Hu's Garden of Bountiful Alloy. It should amplify them as well. I will forgo my shard of the arcanite when your kukri is melded into my rapier.”

Adam’s section suggestion caught Shiv entirely off-guard. “How does that work? Can Can Hu even work with them using its Geomancy?”

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“There are material aspects to each item,” Adam said. Can Hu confirmed that with a beep. “And more importantly, I know Dimensionality, so I'll be able to help Can Hu with this."

Shiv considered that. "So what, I'll be carrying a Category One dimension on my back?"

"Yes! Category One dimension on your back. You'll be able to store a lot more than just a few supplies. More importantly, you'll be able to carry a small garden full of regenerating alloys, and potentially a small group of active combatants on the inside as well."

And what Adam was proposing slowly took shape in his mind. Shiv imagined Adam or Uva hiding within his cloak while he rampaged forward, waiting for the right moment to disembark. Or Can Hu being inside his cloak and constructing new machines on the way. The thought was so absurd it made Shiv laugh.

"Do you get what I’m trying to do?" Adam said, smirking.

“Yeah. You’re making me your personal troop carrier or something." Shiv nodded. "Fine, but I'm gonna need that cloak back. And you understand you're going to be sharing space with a lot of bodies and a lot of flayed skin."

"I think after what I've gone through," Adam murmured, "that's probably not going to be the worst of my nightmares."

With that agreed upon, Can Hu merged the final two pieces of Equipment for today. It melded the Skypiercer with a fragment of Absence. Again, two pools of mercury consumed each item. They slid together across the air, spilling as one, and a new glow filled the room. It was a prismatic glow—the glow of hyperconducted magic.

Can Hu let out a mechanical groan from deep within its being. Shiv took a step forward, but Adam held out a hand. He channeled a strong beam of his personal sun into Can Hu and gritted his teeth. “Wait. It has this. As do I.”

At the same time, the Young Lord's legs were shaking as well. He was pushing himself as hard as Can Hu was. The beam pouring forth from his azure sun was practically solid by this point. As the spheres of mercury consumed the weapons, so too did the Righteous Dawn Prevails swallow Can Hu, and through it all, Shiv watched, beholding as the bubbling pool of mercury receded, and as the shape of a new blade unveiled itself.

It gleamed the color of a midnight rainbow—dark at the center, simmering with Dimensionality mana, but radiant along its edges. Its shape had changed as well. No longer was it a straight rondel dagger; instead, the blade developed a slight curve and was needle-thin, resembling Confriga's Absence more than ever before. A spike also protruded from the bottom, sharp enough to stab, with hooks on the side to enhance one's effectiveness in grappling. Its hilt became a series of metal petals rather than a simple round ring of metal.

With a loud, mechanical shriek, Can Hu unleashed a final burst of effort, and a spell slammed down upon the reforged item.

"The act is done," Can Hu crackled, nearly falling over. But before Shiv could catch him, Can Hu planted a leg. Its body screamed, but it remained upright. It did not fall. Shiv halted mid-step and just watched Can Hu for another few seconds, ignoring the weapon altogether.

"You're fine?" he asked.

Can Hu remained standing, even if it quivered, even if its body was making all kinds of strange noises. "I am. I have delivered on my promise, Pathbearer."

"So you have, Penitent," Shiv answered with a smile. "So you have."

Slowly, he walked over and picked up the dagger from where it hovered in the air. As soon as he took it out of Can Hu 's grasp, the bot nearly fell over. But Valor held Can Hu up, and they both retreated closer to Adam, closer to the azure dawn. The Young Lord's face was also bathed in a sheen of sweat. Both he and Can Hu had spent themselves substantially.

Equipment Obtained:

Tier: Master

Condition: Perfect

Composition: Arcanite; Adamantine

Enchantments > Spatially-Anchored; Size-Shifting; Master Self-Mending; Mass-Stealing; Binding; Master Magic Amplification

As Shiv clutched the weapon, he felt a flood of Awareness enter him. He suddenly gained an appreciation for how wide the world was, for the relative positioning and distances between objects. Space was a form of magic, and on a subtle level, he could feel brushing against his personal Chronomancy skill as well.

Then he commanded his dagger to grow larger, and it did. Rather than becoming the lance, it extended first, materializing into something that resembled Absence for a moment, if more like a machete than a longsword. And then, as it continued growing, it became a glorious, thin needle, reaching eight meters, then nine. Then it was pressing up against the edges of the teleportation anchor. And he stopped it before it could go any further. But this was only the tip of the iceberg.

The weapon could grow larger. Alarger.

He could also feel how his Biomancy clung to the material. His mana was being pulled into it. Every mana field he had was drawn to its edge. And that was why it was rainbow-bright. That was why its color shifted like an animated prism. It was literally a singularity for magic.

"I have not managed to breach the Heroic-Tier threshold for this synthesis," Can Hu said apologetically.

"No," Shiv replied, "this is pretty awesome. Besides, you’ll get to try again when it breaks. I can't wait to field-test this. In fact," he looked at Adam, "when do you want to go on this scouting run exactly, because I’m—”

“We have a problem." They were interrupted by Uva appearing at the front door. Her face was impassive, but he read the storm clouds behind her eyes.

"Perhaps it would be more accurate, in fact, to say I and Shiv have a problem," Uva continued. "The Weaveress in charge of the expeditionary detail, Exalted Mother Null Mont, has commanded that I report back to Weave for an in-depth debriefing, along with..." Uva paused, "...along with an interrogation session at Elaboration to ensure I am free of undue influences.”

"What do you mean by 'interrogation session'?" Shiv said, his voice dropping to a low growl.

"I informed them of the Dreamtaker," Uva explained. "And the Stranger. Exalted Mother Null Mont has ordered me to depart immediately.” And then she shuffled uncomfortably. “Also, she wishes to take your… Court Leviathan and the rogue vampire back with her as well. She has gone off to secure the . Against my recommendation.”

"Oh, has she?" Shiv said. A slow, simmering pressure built up inside him. Shiv glared at his new knife, but slowly, his scowl turned to a smile as the radiant edges inspired an idea in him. “Hey, Adam. How big do you think this knife can get?”

The Gate Lord looked briefly confused, but then a look of amusement blossomed on his face as he understood. “I don’t know. I think we should find out. In fact, I think as many people should find out as possible.”

Uva’s head swung between them, and the slightest hint of worry leaked from her mind. “ What do you mean by that?”

Shiv grunted with amusement. “Oh, you’ll see, Uva. You’ll see.”