Chapter 318 - Plan B (Patreon)

Arcanite Alloy (Arcane) Arcanite Alloy is a meticulously engineered blend of a dozen metals, each chosen for its unique resonance with arcane energies. This alloy was designed to amplify magical powers. Despite the complexity of its creation, items forged from Arcanite Alloy will be durable and capable of channeling immense magical forces.

Flamebearer (Arcane, Damaged) Flamebearer held dominion over fire, with a mere swing capable of igniting the horizon. This axe’s blaze once burned with immense fury. Despite the damage and its now weakened flames, moments of intense heat surge through its blade, offering a glimpse into its fiery past.

Both the alloy and the axe are great items. The alloy being a chunk of metal that I might be able to smelt in the future. But for that, I will need more experience, much more. Either that or find someone to do it for me. If I tried it now, it could end up being wasted and creating a rare grade weapon, ruining the careful mix of metals in the process.

Then there is the axe. It's half of my height with a single blade, made from black metal with a web of red glowing inscriptions.

Its performance seems to be comparable to an epic weapon at the moment, and the damage is very much visible on it. Something that maybe can be fixed and bring the weapon back to its arcane performance.

“It doesn’t seem as strong as Peacemaker,” the duplicate wonders while holding it and swinging it, “Do you think the Peacemaker was a grade higher than arcane?”

“Most likely. How long do you think the patch Nevan created around the core will last?”

“If we are lucky, then until the end of the floor. But we know the system so a week at most just to mess with us. The alloy he used seems to be a bit different from that chunk he left to you.”

I nod, already putting it away. I will have to be careful not to get it stolen by him.

Duplicaniel knows what I'm thinking about but doesn't mind it, instead, he holds the axe, and I do not try to take it away from him.

Then while he starts examining the remains of the youngest Champion of this planet, Nevan´s father, I look towards the burned patch of the floor where the man´s body used to be.

“Master?” Vega awakens me from my thinking as she slowly regains consciousness.

“Just take it slowly,” I tell her.

Just in case, I gave her the remaining pendants, but so far the mana levels seem much more bearable. It will probably take months until they return to normal, but that much is expected after 100 years of it radiating.

“Where is mister?”

For a moment, I think of lying but then decide against it. Rather than me trying to protect her, Vega needs to get used to it as this is the kind of world we live in.

“He died,” I tell her.

“Did master kill him?”

“I did not.”

“Was mister hurt, and that's why?”

“You could say that. But it wasn't a physical wound only. He did possess a skill similar to mine and yours. But in the end, he decided he didn’t want to continue using it and didn’t have anything to live for.”

“You didn’t stop him, master?” she asks curiously.

“I didn’t; it was his decision.”

“Even if it was a dumb one?” her head tilts in confusion.

“I’m sure he didn’t do it out of nowhere. He must have been thinking of it ever since he woke up.”

“But that doesn’t make it not a dumb decision,” she declares. “Master should have stopped him.”

“It was his decision, minion, and I didn’t know him, and…”

She interrupts me, “But master, you won’t get to know people if they die. And not everyone is as smart as me or master. People are weak.” Vega nods confidently.

“Doing that would step on his pride, minion,” I defend myself, “he was old enough to decide, and he did have his reasons.”

“Weak people should just listen to me or master.” she declares,

To that, I pinch her horn. Such cheeky little thing.

So I ask her, “His family died, and he saw their corpses. So, minion, what would you do if you found me dead?”

“I think I would be sad,” she answers.

The duplicate also joins us, “And what would you do after that, Vega?”

The little half-demon looks between me and him, “I would find who did that and kill them,” her red eyes seem threatening now, “I would tear their limbs limb from limb and hold their beating heart in my hand. Only after they would fully understand how weak they are in comparison to me would I kill them.”

I look at the duplicate, “You can't put this one on me. I haven't raised her like that.”

Still in shock, the duplicate nods, “She is half demon, isn't she?”

“Yes, I am!” Vega says happily jumping on her feet and goes to examine the core.

“Partially I want her to stop being like that but part of me thinks it will be better for her survival,” I say to the duplicate.

He seems to agree and while looking at Vega, he says, “You were right before. I think we can use [Tether] to bridge this core and the core of the Bastion to power it.”

“I told you, it makes sense and that skill is surprisingly good. Better than what I expected when I got it.”

“Sure, sure, Mr. Perfect. The question is, will we be able to have the four assholes help us?”

I shrug, “We will use force if they won't,” I glance at Vega who taps with her fingers on the core, “The Valley will become too dangerous to stay here, and with the help of these four assholes, we can maybe make the Bastion fly again. Plus, with as much mana as this core contains, the defenses should be much stronger.”

“You don't have to persuade me. The sleeping noodle right over us is troublesome enough and we don't know how it will react to patched up core. The other problem might be if we won't be able to keep up the connection between cores.”

I had already thought of that, “We don't have to keep it up the entire time. We can fill the core of the Bastion as much as it allows us. That should be easy with [Resonance] and a few other skills.”

The duplicate's senses keep examining the damaged axe he holds, and I can see his gears spinning, “It's a shame we can't move the core. But with the sheer amount of mana it holds it is impossible to do so.”

“Did you think of using the black orb?” I ask him.

“Are you dumb?” he complains, “We already decided it would be a terrible, terrible, terrible idea to use the black orb in all this mana radiation.”

“No, no,” I shake my head, “I meant after we move a lot of mana to the Bastion's core. What if we cooperate a bit and remove the patch Nevan left? It would mean more of his fancy alloy, and we could leave the black orb behind. It could deal with the sleeping noodle.”

“You say that, but you have no idea what would happen. Wanna bet it would only piss him off, and he would leave to hunt us?” he snorts and stands up, “I will examine the place a bit more. Take a peek at what remains of Nevan´s father. While alive, the dude must have been durable as heck. I bet most of his traits were for that.”

As he leaves, I only think about how it only makes me want to create the black orb even more. What terrifying thing would it turn into after absorbing so much mana from the core?

Would it be even capable of doing that? Maybe? Theoretically, it shouldn't be able to, as the orb is created from much less mana than the core contains, so the sheer amount should overwhelm it.

But there is also a chance that the black orb is just the start and absorbing more mana would gradually strengthen it instead of crumbling it.

Damn, I really want to try.

I stop in front of the remains of Nevan´s father. He became a champion not so long before death, yet he was still considered to have the strongest body out of the natives of this planet.

Nevan said that he probably had been a traitor, judging by the amount of damage he caused, but I wonder, is it really it? What if the man was the opposite and tried to stop the activation of the Veil at all costs, even at the cost of the lives of his family and people in the station?

Isn't it sad for a man like Nevan to die with such a thought? He was so talented, a blacksmith gifted in creating alloys. Amazing kinds of alloys for different situations that worked through carefully crafted combinations of metals, not even needing inscriptions. I think Nevan could be considered a genius when it comes to this field, even being capable of creating low or mid grade arcane weapons with the help of Champion Niall.

Yes, he was human in the end. Even being valued by the Absolute of this planet, even possessing a concentration type of skill and with a powerful body, he was weak against his own emotions. But was he really weak, as Vega said, or is it only hard for me to imagine fighting for tens of years and losing friends one after another? Creating weapons for them, only so they go out to never return.

However, I don't think I would end up like that.

No, I'm confident I will never end up like that.

Cutting off my thoughts there, I lean lower to look at the charred body with head and heart purposefully destroyed. Not giving the man a chance to heal.

At my level of skill, I can't understand properly what made his body so powerful, and what the trait did.

Looking at the charred place where, with a concerted effort, we burned Nevan's body, I sigh. Even after death and mana leaving the man, and his body weakening because of death, it will be extremely difficult.

“Sorry, Nevan,” I say, and after spending a big chunk of my mana to send through the blade, I cut through where thin pieces of charred flesh remain on the right hand. The hand that did hold the axe and is the most damaged.

Spending more mana than I would like to in our current situation, I'm able to get two finger bones from pointing fingers and store them. I also notice that the pinkie is missing, most likely taken by my duplicate.

***

POV Isabella Martinez

“Seneca, don't go far away from me! Sophie, Tess, and Nathaniel keep telling me to be careful during the last two weeks. Do you know how annoying it is?” I complain to my cute disciple.

Seneca looks up to me. As it should be, my disciple is shorter than me, but I'm still jealous of her hair. They are short and blue and keep floating in the air, looking like flames. I want them too.

“Master, don't worry, I will protect you if something happens!”

So dumb! Is she dumber than Soph?

“Even Nathaniel said it would be dangerous! If he said that, it must be it. And no, I will be protecting you as always. You are too young and dumb.”

“I'm as old as you, master! And it's Noodle who saved our lives twice already!”

I want to be angry at her, but I just can't. She is too cute, and her floating hair is so pretty. Do I need a trait to get something similar?

Sensing emotion from Noodle who is tied around my arm, I look at him.

“Why are you getting arrogant, Noodle!”

Another emotion.

“Yes, you did once or twice, but I also protected you and Seneca.”

He swirls, and his green eyes keep looking at me. Noodle is very smart, and he is also getting too arrogant.

I'm the master here!

“Noodle, I will tell Biscuit,” I tell him.

Immediately he swirls erratically and snuggles closer to me. His face moves closer, and I can feel his tongue flicking close to my cheek. It tickles, and I laugh.

He always acts like that when I threaten him with Biscuit.

Then I turn to Seneca, “And you! I will call you minion again if you don't listen!” I say. I must thank Nathaniel when I meet him on the 6th floor.

Not letting Seneca say something dumb, I order my party, “Let's hurry, the Veil Guardian isn't that far behind, and we have to get to the Bastion! The Housekeeper will let us in, even if the silly Butler complains! And Noodle, eat all our mana so they can't track us, okay?”

Through my [Empathy], I feel his agreement, and then we hurry towards the Bastion.