Chapter 317. A Habit of Achieving the Impossible (Patreon)

Two Days Later

Forming the tiger construct is easier the second time, taking less than an hour. I think I can get the number down to a fraction of that, given time to practice.

What started as an interesting idea, something to pass away the time while waiting for the black faction to bring me to Achemiss, has become more. The black rock’s unique properties may help me deal with Achemiss… and perhaps even challenges on my home world.

But there’s a serious logistical problem I need to solve before I can consider serious use of the tiger.

The rock of this plane suppresses affinities. As a result, it degrades End bindings. Stable devices like void storages maintain their integrity, but I nearly destroyed one of my storage rings when I put little more than a black pebble into it. I wouldn’t have noticed the ring’s imminent collapse without Maria’s warning.

I tried using the Blade of Revelation to transform the one black rock I’ve taken to carrying around with me. It remains black but begins to smoke, gentle clouds of glitter, like an uncorked galaxy. Unfortunately, putting it in a void storage still causes the destabilization effect. Nervous that the rock was losing mass, I transformed it back and didn’t do much other experimentation.

The only other alternative that I know of is moving them via manual transport. In other words, lugging the rocks around. That might work if they weren’t so burdensome. Even if I carted the rocks around in a bone wyrm, they would slow me down.

Besides… if I tried to move tons of black rock out in the open, the black faction would notice and stop me. Sindragos made the faction’s stance on stealing the black rock clear.

I need a stealthy way of doing it, one that won’t burden me. Red, Maria, and I have run out of ideas, so it’s time to get another opinion.

I lay on the bed in my room, the transmission artifact cool in my hands. Maria sits on the side, her gaze fixed on the artifact. If there’s any signs that it’s destabilizing, she’ll forcefully deactivate it.

I kiss the knuckles of her hand as a goodbye, then press the activator and find myself in the white faction. In front of me is a divan. Karanos’s head pokes out over the top, though he’s facing away from me and speaking.

“You’re just jealous that my protégé–”

“Ian,” Kuin says, sitting up straighter on the couch that he’d been sitting on. He’s the same as ever, needle-like fangs and a serious expression almost unsettling on his boy-like face.

“I know you know his name,” Karanos says with a snort.

“Hello,” I interrupt.

Karanos nearly falls off the chair. “Oh! Ian!”

I raise an eyebrow. “What were you saying about your protégé?”

He blinks, then laughs, rubbing his face with his hand. “By samsara, it’s been a while since you’ve given us an update. Are you on your way to Achemiss?”

“Almost,” I reply. “The black faction will bring me to Achemiss, but only if I prove that I have the power to subdue him.”

Karanos and Kuin look at one another, sharing an expression of confusion. “They want you to subdue Achemiss? Why?”

I explain what I know. By the end, Karanos’s expression is thoughtful.

“You know someone has it coming when they manage to alienate everyone around them,” he says.

“I have a separate problem that vexes me. Are you familiar with the black rock that composes the black faction’s fortress, Starbreak?”

“No,” Karanos and Kuin chorus.

“It’s virtually indestructible and suppresses affinities. I’m trying to build a weapon out of it while I’m in the black faction.” I explain the logistical challenges and what we’ve considered.

Kuin rubs at his eyes. “If the rock has such a powerful destabilizing effect, why not just give a piece of the rock to Achemiss? If he puts it in his storage… it’ll self-destruct.”

Karanos frowns. “That strategy might ruin one storage, but Achemiss has several. Besides, I doubt this is the first time someone tried to sabotage him with that kind of strategy, especially if the black faction is working against him.”

“Moreover, he’d be able to sense the power of the rock if he touched it. He’d recognize it as coming from Starbreak–it’s unmistakable. I digress. I need a way to transport tons of this rock. Ideally, a method that is stealthy–they don’t permit people to leave the plane with it.”

“Why do you want to keep it so badly?” Kuin asks.

I grin. “Because I can control the rocks with necromancy. The rocks utterly reject affinity, but not souls. I was able to create a construct with the rocks, one that can fully contain my body. It’s the ultimate defense for when I descend with Achemiss–but only if I can take it with me.”

Karanos sighs. “I don’t know of anything that would help, short of disguising the rocks. Kuin?”

The youthful ascendant shakes his head. “We could ask around, but if we haven’t heard of an alternative method of storing items–one that doesn’t rely on affinity–I doubt anyone else has.” He pauses. “There is another person you could ask. Someone you’re well acquainted with.”

Karanos visibly tenses.

I exhale slowly. “You think he’d help me?”

“He likes a challenge, doesn’t he?” Kuin says. “You would know him far better than either of us.”

I give Kuin and Karanos an appreciative bow of my head. “I’ll reach out later. Until then, farewell.”

I cut the transmission and find myself back in Starbreak.

“Anything?” Red asks, sensing my return. He scurries into the room, his eyes wide with interest.

Maria squeezes my hand.

I shake my head. “It was suggested that I speak to Ash,” I tell them.

He doesn’t like being interrupted, Maria says. You don’t want him to be your enemy.

“I’ll be careful. If he’s occupied, I’ll leave.” With that, I press the artifact’s activation button.

Water is everywhere, dark blue and slightly cloudy, preventing me from seeing too far. Below me is a flat expanse of grayish rock, and on it sits Ancient Ash... wearing skin tight black pants and a bright yellow collar that fans around his neck, his torso bare.

With a start, I realize that I’m moving–something is pulling be back… or pulling the floor forward.

With a sigh, I put the details together. What would lead Ash to a random underwater environment? An organism of interest. The supposed floor is probably the back of a massive aquatic entity.

I swim forward, but the thickness of the water impedes me. The transmission artifact doesn’t work well when I travel through matter denser than air.

I plunge my feet into the creature's back and pull myself across its surface until, finally, I’m back to where I started–behind Ancient Ash.

“Hello,” I call out. The water froths violently around me as Ash uses his elementalism to superheat the water around him. That’s his reflexive response to a disembodied voice? Harsh. I would be dead if I weren’t a projection.

“Hi,” I say again.

This time, Ash whips his head around. He narrows his eyes. An artifact pops into being, withdrawn from a storage. It’s the shape of a scarab and jumps from his hand. It flies a circle around us. A bubble of air suddenly manifests, allowing us to more easily communicate.

“Ancient Dunai,” he says softly, as though tasting each syllable. “So, this is the power of the artifact that Suncloud gave you. It allowed you to find me even here.”

I look around. “What are you doing?”

“Research, of course. This is a rift.”

“In Eternity?”

He chuckles. “Of course. And below us is a riftbeast. I’ve been trying to decide what to call her. I know you have a sister. What is her name?”

He’s as domineering as ever but seems to be in a good mood. “Germaine.”

“Splendid. Ian, meet Germaine, the massive manatee riftbeast.”

I stare at him. “You found a giant sea cow… and thought to name it after my sister?”

He laughs. “It’s not like she’ll ever know unless we tell her. Now tell me why you’re here.”

I tell him about the black rock, its special properties, and my desire to store it.

“I have heard of this supposed ‘black rock’ before,” Ash says. “As you pointed out, it’s hard to transport and almost impossible to manipulate. For most ascendants, it wouldn’t be worth the hassle, since absolute defense isn’t as much of a priority when death isn’t permanent. For you, however…” He hums in contemplation. “You said that you could place a soul in the rock?”

I nod. “That’s why I find it so interesting in the first place.”

“Have you tried ensouling all the rocks, rather than just a single cornerstone?”

I frown. “Why? I don’t have enough souls, but even if I did, that wouldn’t help me with my transportation issue.”

“How does a void storage work?” Ash asks. “Think.”

“It’s a crafted object that connects a physical interface to a piece of space that is dimensionally stretched–or compressed, depending on how you look at it. It’s made by Dark and End affinity.”

“Dark affinity has domain over space,” Ash states. “If you were a Dark practitioner, I reckon you would be able to forcibly keep the black rocks in a void storage of your own design, assuming you have access to Maria’s End affinity as well. This would require constant vigilance, but it could be done.” He rubs his hands against the back of the manatee. “I wish manatees had shark skin–then it’d be like I’m at a spa. I’d have water, sun, and exfoliation.”

I just stare at him, long since used to his bizarre, but thankfully short, tangents. I resist the urge to point out that there’s minimal sunlight this deep under the surface. He’s a Sun practitioner–he knows.

“You are not a Dark practitioner,” Ash says, continuing the main conversation. “What do you have domain over?”

The question is, of course, rhetorical–Ash knows my abilities as well as I do.

“Death,” I reply. “My other affinities are too weak to matter.”

“Why isn’t Death enough?”

His expression is serious, and I don’t get the impression that he’s messing around. My gut reaction is to say, “because it’s impossible! Because Death energy can’t manipulate space!”

If that were the answer, Ancient Ash wouldn’t have asked the question.

I mull over the question and rephrase it. How would Death mimic a pillar capability of Dark? What would it need to do?

To store objects, you need a place where they can reside. You need a method of depositing and withdrawing them. This is true of any object of holding like a backpack. The power of Dark affinity is allowing someone to access objects tethered to another space using a specific locus.

I frown. “My void storage I brought from my home world… why does it work in Eternity?”

“Why do you ask?”

I pat my hip. “This bag can store and retrieve objects from a distant chunk of reality. I assume that I’m accessing the same chunk of reality now that I did before I ascended. That means, if I had two loci attached to the same dimensional space, I could send objects between them. With multiple loci, why couldn’t I send things between Eternity and other mortal realities?”

Ash gives me a disappointed look. “I forget at times how young you are. I suppose you’ve yet to stumble across that question.” He sighs. “That’s not how Dark works. A dimensional space is defined by its anchor, which also serves as the access locus. Multiple anchors will create instabilities, potentially tearing a space apart. Consequently, a practitioner cannot simply place an anchor in the material world. Dark practitioners can instead carve away chunks of land and cordon them off in separate planes of existence, or dimensions. This is beyond lesser Dark practitioners, but any peak Dark practitioner would be able to do it.”

“Surely some people have managed to connect a space to more than one anchor?”

Ash inclines his head. “Certain artifacts in Eternity make it possible… and they’re highly sought after. From what I understand, Achemiss’s artifact falls under this umbrella since it forms spatial tears through which non-living entities and materials can pass.”

Ash falls silent and rubs his feet over the manatee’s back.

I once more contemplate the matter at hand. Dark works by creating an anchor tied to a specific location, separate from our plane of existence. Death–and specifically, necromancy–works by tethering a soul, which has no material presence, to a material object.

They almost seem like opposites.

“You have the look,” Ash says.

I snap out of my reverie. “Hmm?”

He chuckles, his fangs–identical to Kuin’s–stark in the dim, deep water. “You are a fascinating creature, Ian. Leave this place and return to the black faction. Try your hand at whatever inspired idea has entered your mind. You have a habit of achieving the impossible.”