Author's Note

This chapter is a collection of three smaller chapters dealing with the events of this arc that otherwise wouldn't be able to fill a chapter. This is not a filler chapter, but three small ones stuffed into one.

As always, this chapter wouldn't and couldn't have been made this well without the help of my Editor, his work, and input, ZeroOneInFinn

Chapter Four: Scales, Iron And Glass [E]

The Meeting With Caldura

I know I often describe teleportation, warping, or skills like [Transit] as walking through a thin sheet of water, but that description is not universal. Yes, the very first moment is exactly like described above, at least when transportation is successful I reckon, but that flickering moment following afterwards is so electrifying. It's a concentration of energy that danced over your skin while knowing fully that if it drew any closer you'd be incinerated. It's a rush to be sure, though when this moment ends biome attributes such as temperature, moisture or weather hit a dozen times harder in the brief moment of soreness.

Why did I put so much effort into explaining that? In this case, no reason, since it didn't apply. It didn't happen.

Instead, it was like fire burning away everything that wasn't me, the ambers not so much as licking my fur's tips as reality shrinked away and I fell through space, and yet when I left, plummeting out of a geyser of flame, I stood most certainly higher than I did before.

I shook my head, coughing violently as mostly obscure urges began to form within my bowels, and yet- "Hahaheheh..." I chuckled like a fucking idiot and licked my lips as I felt the remnants of chaos still linger on me like an oil film.

Chaos was in principle something so simple- yet practically unfathomably in scale as it grew in size to extend unchained only limited by the imagination of the user. It was freedom, it was like eating your favorite meal whenever you wanted, accomplishing any goal without so much as a twitch of a muscle, a veritable buffet housing everything a heart could desire and you can just take whatever you want. While my own powers in chaos were minuscule in comparison to Discord, seeing as I was still a [Chaos Disciple] and that was rooted in the fact I never managed to use it one time with acceptable results, I still indulged in it from time to time. In essence, it was similar to a natural power and yet… addicting. It wasn't just like a drug, neither was it totally akin to a stimulant, I'd rather describe it as a moment of absolute license, cutting yourself away from all restraints of reality. There was a reason I never succeeded in casting a spell, it was doubt, fearing to take a step that would land me on a metaphorical cliff.

But here chaos ruled absolutely, every particle was infused with it and the local native spirits hummed in their unorganized way that even the slightest whisper of one like me mayhaps could've changed reality. "Well, no need to indulge just yet, but maybe." I muttered and held my hoof in front of me. With a beckoningly coy but sincere smile, I felt how the vibrant energies heeded my wish. I let out a quivering breath as an icy cold and refreshing chill invigorated me and in my hoof's frog manifested a violently shifting mass that soon took on the form of a simple vial bearing a green liquid. I felt like chuckling, but the nature of my joy was 'uncentered'.

A... Stamina regeneration potion? That's odd. The Game asked with confusion, but there was no underlying reason for his confusion other than the randomness of my action.

"I can't bend chaos to my will, at least not yet without varying results of failure, but I most certainly can make vague requests, no?" I said with a shrug, before placing my first working result in my inventory. Well, the second result if you consider my previous best attempt a success. I once managed to create a lumberjack axe using chaos... it was made out of flesh, bone, and skin and was dressed like an old-fashioned lumberjack... It also had a beard and thank goodness wasn't alive...

A low scratching rung from a far direction which, after I turned towards it, bore a great cave formed from jagged, mismatched materials of varying nature. One of the main components was hard water, not ice. Hard. Water. The formation was difficult to look at; yet despite being fully rooted in the physical realm, despite being out of place, for the mortal eye it appeared like it perfectly belonged where it was.

I took a step forward with a tight expression on my face, though stopped before putting it back down when I noticed the bones littering the ground in the thousands. The remnants originated from many creatures, the majority being native beasts, a most intense preference for serpents was something I noted shortly after earth pony remnants. The bones were ordered strangely that broke up one bone before resembling any sort of pattern.

'Now that's some infuriating chaos right here.' I thought dryly with awful lots of casualty given my position, but perhaps my hardened nerves after the many battles have numbed my fear. It could also be that I possessed no interest in the further existence of this murderous forest and was more than willing to use my explosives and flammable items to set plan 'scorched earth' in motion. Well, I really had problems trusting myself right now to make any valid decisions so...

"Wer kommt, were wagt? Ich seh euch nähern, und bei einen anblick wie deinen, könnte Ich dich glatt verzehren."* The serpent speaking high German sounded with the most smooth, and yet insidiously poisonous voice.
*"Who comes, who dares? I see you near, and with a sight like yours, you could be my hors d’oeuvres."

'Game, my German is not good enough to have a conversation.' I said, and by the appropriate beep of the Game, took a few stops forward.

A great shadow began to grow on the side of the cave opposing me, a titanic snake easily the size of a two-story house, slithered towards the exit most gracefully only for a tiny corn snake to leave the cave. I raised an eyebrow before the bones snarled me like a rope. My eyes widened, and so did my mouth and just as I was about to use the full extent of my strength, I decided against it and thrashed with the power of an average pony my size. The mountain of bones ground against itself taking on the shape of an utmost vicious water hose, and when all bones were in place to resemble a creature, they melted into the most feared creature of this forest: Caldura.

Caldura's eyes were like windows behind which floated unstable neutron stars pulsating and radiating chaos in an erratic manner, much more so than the otherwise 'calm' state it usually resided. Emotions twisted, changing, reforming from which smothering lust became hateful spite, to disgusting indulgence and then transforming madness; all in a cycle of chaos divided.

"What an utmost fortunate day to see such a rare delicacy wuander in my hideout." Caldura spoke with dripping hunger and unending lust, as her beaded, pitchforked tongue licked over my upper body in one motion. Her saliva cracked and bubbled, and I really wasn't sure if acidity could be the worst explanation for it. "Mhmm~ A spirit caller, I thought your kind long dead. Do tell, did your slaves not tell you to keep away from the likes of ol' little me, battlecorn?" She growled in a daring manner and neared ever closer so that my entire vision was taken up by her eye in which I saw myself mirrored.

"Actually, a quiet well known lord of chaos told me to find you." I forced out as my lungs were slowly being squished, and yet I resisted my urge to escape using drastic means. When she squeezed a bit harder, I felt somewhat urged to respond faster. "By the way, Discord says hi." I expected many things, and perhaps that was my second mistake in the last five minutes, but her starting to chuckle that eventually ended in a snorting, gurgling, oinking manner was not what I anticipated. I also didn't appreciate being swung around while the serpent laughed violently.

"Hahaha *snort* now that's a good one..." Caldura finished with a low sigh, before practically ramming back into my face. "Discord's been dead for almost a thousand years, whelp. Why are you here? Make the most of this conversation, it's your last one." She growled most certainly like she was, unlike her previous reaction, quietly unamused. I grunted as her grip tightened, but it was all for show because if Caldura wanted to squash me it already would've already looked like a used toothpaste tube.

"Repay the debt to the serpent of change?" I choked out the sentence exactly as Discord said and every letter pronounced brought a sensation to my mouth akin to my jaw being shattered.

Caldura's iris tightened, it didn't shrink down to pinpoints, just a narrowed glare. "So what if you know him in person? The old patchwork obviously doesn't care enough about you if he sent you to collect old favors." A grin spread across her scaled face, far deeper than any creature should, all the way back to her hinges, and the lack of lips most certainly didn't pronounce 'kind intentions' in the slightest. "Or can't act on his own anymore."

I heavily regretted my previous decision of pacifism as the great jaw of Caldura opened and strings of acidic saliva dropped from her mouth's roof down the throat. The fact she had four fangs instead of two most certainly didn't make matters more comfortable, though I was sure some people in my position would be more than happy with what would come next were they in my place.

I grunted and changed my title to chaos disciple and attempted to break into the mirror realm. In a heart's beat cracks grew in all directions and the jaw of Caldura shut like a stapler. She released a panicked, screeching and extended 'NO!' and quickly tried to untangle herself from me, and it was partially successful. Some parts of her fell into the mirror realm with me.

I rasped and spat out a small fountain of the snake's blood and shivered in disgust as the liquid tried to eat away at me, but was not strong enough to overpower my poison resistance. ’Good to know that acid counts as 'poison' and slides off my fur’. I shook my head and with dizziness held my head, only to notice that my fur had changed. While the damaging components didn't affect me, the intense concentration of chaos did play a little trick on me. My right side almost became angelic in appearance bearing soft, fluffy fur and mane in pure, almost radiant white and pale eyes. The other was a thin coat of light magenta, my mane was curled and unkempt. This clash of colors met in the middle of me separated by the thinnest of lines, and it was noticeable with my horn that now was regularly curved and jagged at once.

I blinked hard as disgust washed over me seeing a mockery of the corrupting light usually seen in the eyes of nightmares found a home in me. Well, that, and when I slithered my tongue across my teeth feeling flat teeth on one side and shark teeth on the other.

But, despite this balanced display, it was pure chaos and for some reason, I felt rather giggly when an utmost deliciously mad idea popped into my skull. Straining my left hoof, I watched gleefully at the sight of seeing so much chaotic energy crackling over my fur.

Please no, John.

"Please yes, Star." I retorted and called the heaps of flesh and blood into my inventory, and when I found that it was too richly packed with power to simply stuff it there, hurled it into the Goblin Hideout. I was certain at least one of the two gems found it hilarious. With a wide, toothy grin, reality broke away and I found myself back at Caldura's lair.

The snake was hardly comparable to the titanic sock it was before, and while still twice as long as me, was less threatening but unwounded for some reason. No matter, the act came now.

"Aww, did the noodle get wet on her own? Ohhh~ I am so sorry, but did you expect for Ditzy to talk to any-how did you call me? Ah yes, runt. Did you really expect for Ditzy to talk to any runt?" I hopped onto my hind legs and spoke with a crooked and looping tone, before leaning forward with half-closed eyes. "Well, this runt ain't like the other foals on the playground I’ll tell you that much for certain."

Caldura rose to a considerable height, towering over me, but I kept my grandiose smile stable and walked closer while swaying my body around as much as possible, faking once or twice to take the walk too far and fall only to catch myself in a fluid motion.

"Oh, why so serious? We’re just joking here, aren't we?" I asked, and leaned my head back slowly and transferred as much mana as I could without casting into my horn, which had the utmost unique effect: My horn sizzled and my eyes appeared illuminated. "Aren't we?" Those two words left with the same charisma as those before but with intentional, vague oddness, almost an uncanny nature, you could call it.

"Get lost." Caldura snapped and hissed at me, now the other chaotic parts of her were drowned in anger, but I was somewhat certain that lust and disgust were still lingering alongside madness. I was also sure that if I fucked up this act I'd be taking back a huge carcass and I'd probably have to explain that blunder to Discord. And yet, while my thoughts were as calculated, I felt an alien bloodlust and hunger for cruelty spread throughout my mouth, yet it lingered under the charade.

"Get Lost?" I asked dumbfoundingly and held a hoof to my mouth while sharply leaning to the left. "You can't acquire 'lost,' it's given to you. And you can bet that I have been gifted plenty of that since I am here, but I think I can change it with a receipt in your possession." The snake continued to stare, not moving a muscle. "Ah really, I thought chaos of all things would love some small talk, typical Germane, can't stomach some social talk. Fine, Discord told me you could get me out of this forest without using more... destructive means." I grinned with a toothy smile and hazily waved my right hoof which was still caked with the blood of the snake

Caldura's eyes narrowed at me and the fierce light intensified to dangerous levels, and yet I felt like even backing down in the slightest would result in me losing my dominant position. If I couldn't keep my expression, sweat, and demeanor in check then this thinly balanced scale would tip with the weight of several severed body parts. There was also the aspect that I was deliciously amusing myself, playing the scene, it was so excitingly refreshing being the puppet master instead of a set piece for once.

Her extended silence tested not just my patience, but also my facial muscles.

"Wait here." Caldura said and turned around towards her cave, only for me to appear before her, something that most certainly bewildered her not just because of my arrogance, but also because [Transit] removed the caster for a short moment from all senses, so in her eyes, I left her field of vision for a singular frame. Well, I also left reality for a teeny tiny moment so I really escaped, well, everything momentarily.

"Neat crib ya got there, really colorful, but I believe the calcium-based interior design could use some mixxing up, you hear me? Maybe some lavender and a few pictures could really liven this place up." I beamed widely, twirling around once in a full circle, before venturing deeper as I felt the great snake steam even harder.

"Now I have no more doubt, you and Discord are one of a piece." Caludra growled and followed in a tense demeanor, though I doubt it was because of fear, more so caution. After all, the serpent couldn't know that I was not able to just instantly shatter any opponent I looked at instead of just warping my general vicinity to the most uninhabitable of locations.

"How kind of you! You know I rarely get compliments, and let me tell you, if I ever hear the word 'adequate' one more time I feel like I'm going to inspire countless engineers to create steam engines." I hummed joyfully, though was slightly mortified by how easily I let my pent-up anger slip. "I mean what kind of word is that even? A-De-Quat? Sounds like something the person who named the water transportation structures created- Aqueducts, that’s how they were called. Like that person named it."

"Stop. Talking."

I believe entity Caldura's emotions are shifting from anger to frustration. While more likely to snap, she's approaching a state where she might slip.

"You know that reminds me of a riddle I once heard." I said loudly and turned around by swinging my hindleg around and walking backward while facing the groaning snake. "What gets bigger the more you take away from it? A hole."

The snake narrowed her eyes and sizzled her tongue at me in defiance. "Oh, don't you get your tail in a twist, you're the one that tried to off me back there, and believe me, if I wanted you dead I wouldn't have stopped with a small radius. I could've taken your entire lair out of the bounds of this world, smothering your soul across the fringes of an entire plane of existence as your core would be still tethered to this realm. And then, then I could've robbed your empty home, and yet here I am, cracking jokes and striking conversations. It's called kindness, my scaled patron, and it's not mandatory."

I quickly ducked as my [Greater Spirit Senses] warned me of a speedy projectile aimed at the back of my head shot forward. "If you can't feel the exit like any competent user of chaos, instead of your destructive uses, then this relic would've allowed escape."

I lifted my head, leaving my bowed position, and turned to see a pile of shredded metals, components, and shattered mineral bits floating within a green bubble that popped a moment later, scattering the remaining on the floor. "Unfortunate." I added quickly, and though I was certain I could repair it, I decided to keep that card hidden a little while longer.

The great snake scoffed which appeared heavily amusing given the way her lipless face moved like a slapped piece of silicon. "You can thank the last pony who left my lair alive." She motioned to her left and found a sort of altar that was hidden by some strange magic to appear perfectly unnoticeable unless directed at it.

A much smaller snake appearing almost ethereal with dirty yellow magic coursing under the see-through skin lay abandoned on the stone with a single crystalized twig rammed through a scale on the body's chest, barely missing the heart.

My smile slowly died and I took on a more consolidating expression, before quickly turning around to face the frowning snake staring longingly at the lifeless body. "I assume the form before me is-"

"It's a puppet to protect my real body, though even without it I am more than capable of spreading my influence." Caldura spoke sharply, and although her plight was upmost saddening, none of us remained unstained by blood. Still, despite not searching for trouble, I had no trouble admitting that I did want the beast dead.

Branch of the Tree of Harmony
Legendary Item
A branch from the Tree of Harmony. Its radiating order pulsates with a soothing light that burns away negative emotions and chaos.
'Come Closer'

I raised an eyebrow and slowly walked towards the brimming branch and felt an uncertain queasiness as the Game was pondering ever harder to the point I felt a headache build itself into a migraine in my skull.

I need to analyze the branch: Acquire it. The Game ordered and I was taken aback given the otherwise rather passive, persuasive, or even advisory nature, but this straightforward request startled me, and I turned back towards the snake only to find that Caludra watched up most carefully.

'I am doing this because you are asking for this, Game. Whatever consequences follow are yours to stomach, for all I care about this mass murderer could rot here until the end of time.' I thought utmost grimly, especially considering that otherwise, I used to finish my... problems in the short term. It was rather easy, for once, to describe how I could feel if someone has killed a lot of mortals. I first thought that the assassins were simply unbathed and dirty, but no, they were clean, they just bore a 'scent' on them.

The plight maiden in comparison had an iron-like smell on it.

And Caldera? She reeked of a slaughterhouse.

Affirmative. Proceed.

"Say, my serpentine fellow, are ya willing to strike a blackened gold bargain?" I asked with a huge salesman smile and clapped my hooves together, and while Caldura was not convinced, I was yet to hear an interruption. "I remove the little twig from your body, and you-"

"Take whatever you desire, I have little regard for mortal possession, though it's a fickle hope to succeed in that attempt. Just don't get killed in your attempt, removing your order-tainted corpse would be a troublesome task. Otherwise, be my guest." Caldura spoke with shifting tones, though all of them either represented a lack of faith, or an attitude that could be best described with 'do as you like, just don't bother me.' "Although I still possess my soul, it's ownership is bequeathed to Discord even if he never cared to collect it, so it is one of the few things I cannot part with." The snake answered monotonously and I felt want and madness within her wrangle for dominance, though the desire in her craved freedom, the insanity despite the captivity, were for one that can taste emotions blatantly obvious.

"Well, I was just going to ask you to eject any sentient soul out of this blasted forest upon stumbling inside, but since you're offering- don't mind me looking through your stash, oh slithering one." I took on a deep bow to the attentive snake, before walking towards the branch fully expecting feedback that would require me to 'hatch' the spirit of order in my possession. Oh goodness, explaining that to Ditzy will be a doozy.

I held out my hoof and watched as within a second or two, in a quick but ravenous, yet blood- and goreless process, my limbs became a thorny claw. I reached over towards the impaling object fully ready to cut off my newly formed limb and even twitched when my fingertips touched the crystal only to find it not giving off any distinctive reaction. I raised an eyebrow and slowly pulled the shard from the body and discarded it into my inventory alongside the order-infested scale. Honestly, this could be compared to removing a prick. A warm, humming, and comfortable prick.

"Huh, I do not know what all that hassle was about-uff!" I exclaimed with bewilderment as my body was hurled to the side like a lofty bag of trash. I landed on my snout and one hoof behind my back and pushed myself up while spitting violently. "Excuse you, you ruffian!"

The giant body of Caldura lay dead next to the smaller one on the altar, while the original vessel's wound began to glow and heal. The ethereal form began to stir, shivering and quivering until finally floating upwards with a 'stretched' expression. I meant it in the sense that eyes, mouth, and for some reason, nose-holes were as wide open as they could be.

"Well, I did my part so now I believe it's-" I started while patting the dirt off me, only for a loud crash to take my intention away towards a freshly formed, noodle-shaped hole in the wall. "-your turn... Fuck." I was unsure if I wanted to ever see her again, or never.

Don't have time to censor your insults. Busy. The Game called out, and I could only groan. And then I yelped loudly when a notification sprung up in my face, I only just now realized that without the Game I could not feel out the more rigid mechanics of my core's features, though luckily they also prevented heart attacks.*
When one can feel everything in a several meters long distance with a span of 360 degrees, being jumped scared right in the face can be quite startling.

You have helped five poor souls out of the darkest moments in their lives. Your path may be an arduous one, but you kept your empathy and kindness through battles, hunts, and nightmarish encounters, furthering your powers to support others.
*Pick one of three rewards:

• The Iron Halo.

• An assortment of attribute points.

• A charisma-based perk.

I stared at the text with strained eyes, before blinking my eyes hard. Holding out my claw I began to count my fingers. "Sugar Drop, Malkenir, Silver Blade, Caldura... Who the fuck is number 5? Can't be Celestia, doubt it was Gerb or Cairn either and while my massage skills are good, I doubt Inkwell's back problems were this horrible... Eh." In the end, I shrugged and reformed my claw back into a hoof as, while it was cool to have fingers, I do appreciate having a neat little thing called blood circulation.

"Game?"

There is no description of the items as they are still residing in storage within me and no further description was added. The Game said... is what you were expecting, but in truth, just another window popped up in my vision with this message written upon it.

'Cheapskate can't even spare a second.' I thought with a grumble, before looking at the items and I didn't know how to feel about being able to choose my reward, at least when it was so vague, but I could rule out option three because fuck looks! I was already about to vomit with the damn diadem in my inventory and-urgh, not now, I can be angry on the way ho-out of this forest... I was also starting to get too beautiful. With 150 charisma I was already a nine out of ten, if not outright a ten on a good day and that didn't even cut the fact that I still had a 'flaw,' a tough one that suited my taste, reducing it by another ten percent. Now, why was being beautiful bad besides attracting a lot of photographers?

I know well enough just how much adult entertainment in bits circulates through Equestria and the metric shit ton of various product names just alluding to some figures in any governmental position was truly baffling. I didn't think there were this many ways to refer to Cadenza... I seriously regret having taken that day to learn about taxes, and so did my instructor who asked more times than I have hair to not mention the one tax form in a pile taller than myself, from an adult shop, to Celestia.

"And random stats is too random, sure it could give me a hundred points in strength, but could also just stuff me with 10 charisma." I hummed with a scoff before my eyes turned to the Iron Halo. I did not need to go into the implications of a halo and there were many possibilities, but given the nature of such an object, I ruled out the possibility of it being a consumable item. "It could be a piece of armor or a passive skill, maybe even something similar to an accessory..."

While option two could grant me a great boon, it could also completely fuck me over given the otherwise heavy-rooted nature of good deeds in the charisma stats, and sure it at times granted other attributes on the side, the Iron Halo seemed a safer bet. Also adding on the side that I can always get stats other ways, and worst case scenario would be that I got a hunk of iron which, given the nature of this metal on Equiss would be put into the equation, could grant some opportunities.

I extended my hoof and tapped the Iron Halo expecting it to plop on the ground, but instead, I felt something slightly cold above my head and noticed a crown-like ring of iron floating above my skull. I blinked hard and was beginning to regret my decision almost as hard as acquiring the skill valiant heart, although I despised it primarily due to the side effect of always smiling. But this here was much worse in a social environment.

"Would you like to hide the Iron Halo?"

"Oh thank goodness..." I exhaled with joy and chucked, wiping the sweat from my brows. The intricate design and engravings of this item were beautiful, but I already had problems with door frames, so adding another half meter most certainly wouldn't improve my situation in the slightest. "Yes, please." With a burst of dust, something that seemed almost too cartoonish for this world. I kind of grew fond of the settled line and the gothic-like 'spires' that grew from the crown, though I was a bit miffed when I realized just how far the hidden effect went. I could still feel it floating and rotating, and I was uncertain if it was still tangible or just a phantom in the mortal world.

"Well, just one way to find out. Time to poke someone's eyeb- not this shit again, urgh, I just forgot about it. Dang!" I grumbled and cursed myself, and forced my eyep-Arrgh! Eyes away from the entrance. "Huh." Before quickly snapping back to the opening, narrowing my eyes as my ears violently twitched as if a ghost graced them.

"Did it get quieter?" I asked slowly while turning my back onto the entrance to see if there was anything else to loot, though I had little actual hope for it. The Game was getting even quieter now, before he was mumbling about something regarding 'impossibility' and 'theft' but now he has gone mute.

Well, time to get the chores done.

Hidden Secrets

So... good news and ba-a-a-d news.

Turns out Caldura did collect the belongings of anyone unlucky enough to enter her territory, bad news, is that she disposed of the items by vomiting them into a hole, after having previously swallowed any 'adventurer' whole. Now, the great majority was dissolved as I could identify using [Inspect], many things that most certainly would've improved my life. But, as comes with all things, not everything is destroyed by one peculiar thing, this being super angry, spicy stomach juice: Metal.

Sure, it was one titanic clump of dozens of various metals melted into an approximately 100 metric ton heavy meatball, a fact that would've ruined anyone's hopes of getting rich who wasn't me, but it was neat. I just had to filter out... 100 metric tons of metal...

Hmpf, anyways, it took five water elementals and me to break it apart and bring it to the goblin hideout, since if I put that much stuff into my inventory my skull would've likely replicated the event of someone filling a potato sack with iron ingots. Sure, the majority was likely useless for crafting items, but I spotted a few nuggets of star metal, or as humans know it, silver. Let me tell you, Silver is a cracked conductor, but in itself was a good catalyst as well. I got it done by the very beginning of dawn, though the growing silence was starting to eat away at my nerves. Well, it wasn't really silence, more like one particular instrument of a grand orchestra was starting to quiet down.

"Game, when I said that you're responsible for anything Caldura did, I meant it, and I think your list is about to become very long." I said very slowly while standing at the bottom of the hole staring past an entrance that previously was completely blocked off by a solid wall of primitive bronze. And what lay behind was...

I cannot truly describe it, despite having read countless books and having written many just for fun, seeing as how my scribe job class has become above the pony limits. And even the most bloodstained nights in the mirror realms, hours in which the corpses piled to the roofs, the air was tainted by blood, and not a spot of pavement could be seen under the perishing flesh, this sight, perhaps, earned me a new scenery I'd visit one day were a hell to exist.

I saw ever-flowing blood-stained walls, floor, and ceiling, demonic and yet angelic carvings in the never rotting flesh and the bodily remains of sheep. Their 'carcasses' almost appeared to be partially capable of life. Their backs were drowned in red as they bowed before a great memorial surrounded by slabs of stone written in ancient text. I wondered how someone could remain in such a state, before noticing a slit that ran across their throat, and a thick imprint of blood between the horn walls.

I slowly walked closer to the wall, armed and armored to the teeth with the elementals following me slowly. Even though they were bodies of water that rapidly soared to keep their form stable, the ground would not be ridden from the blood, and the sound of water wouldn’t bounce off the walls in this… sanctum… I shook my head and stopped before the great painting, and with [Inspect], my senses sharpen and concentrated, I could make sense of each stroke, each color, and each emotion.

I felt my eyes and pupils widen further and further, the voices of thousands sounding in an endless wave of flesh and blood. I felt how the objects in the edges of my vision were slowly changing to show a much happier, warmer, more comforting scene. I ripped my gaze away, catching my breath and feeling how trickles of blood slowly weeping down my cheeks. Blood I quickly reabsorbed, even when, in this place, my own blood tasted this much sweeter, I wouldn’t let a single drop be added to this place of depravity.

"Devotions, warmth, adoration... worship." I whispered with narrowed eyes towards the granite wall painting once more, now with a firmer grip on my mind. I saw a great temple towered upon a hilly land surrounded by mountains scraping the stars. Sheep by the thousands making up an almost indistinguishable mass of white and black surrounded a temple of scarlet bricks and eroded rock. A serpent so grand it perhaps could've devoured all of them at once. Blood flowed upwards towards the tip of the temple where the snake bit down, drawing upon the shed crimson, and yet, with the display of gore and brutality, I felt only protection and safety radiation from the painting. I could make many theories about the deeper meaning, the reason for this to have become reality in the first place, but right now more important matters were at hoof.

"Tear this place to bits, take everything and place it in the middle of this room. I need further study." I spoke coldly, calculated, bitter, but... I strained my face and summoned seven [Great Fireballs] that surrounded me. Yoga-ball sized orbs of flames bathed the darkened, stained cavern in intense, ruby light, charring even far-off vegetation in their fury.

The fire consumed everything that wasn't from the stone that imprisoned those gullible fools centered here, the smoke cloaked this scenery of indecency and falling rocks from a collapsing cavern buried the sins of the past. And yet, squashed and burned, turned to ash even, I couldn't help but to have sensed… to have heard quiet laughter ringing out from the remains as whatever lingering memories were cleansed.

Ghosts were real, and most certainly they haunt the past, but the question was when would they come to do so with the present?

Meeting an old friend

Inside the Goblin Hideout, I sighed deeply and averted my eyes from the boreal stump sitting in the middle of a smooth cavern of stone in which the walls were engraved with symbols, most having no deeper meaning than representing symbolistically the Elements. In the middle was a patch of green moss on which flowers bloomed. Water surrounded this little island and the ceiling was covered with every elemental gem that I could find. The stump was already carved, having gotten finer and greater attention than its predecessor, reinforced with precious metals and gems, it seemed tungsten and tin were surprisingly popular with spirits, though at least it was so to Wadjeta and Tesla whom I showed chunk after chunk to find out the best materials. Right now the wood was filled with my blood instead of water. Now my parts contained so much power that actively inserting it, regardless of how careful, would just cause the tree to grow again.

Which was nice and all, but if I wanted to do so I had saplings at my disposal.

The opposite duo of Companion Spirits was most certainly vocal after having been freed from their imprisonment by the fey, though the chaos one was for some reason more insulted than the orderly one. The little times they did have direct 'conversation' with me, and I say that as lightly as I could, made my stomach churn. Companion spirits needed two sacrifices, as they actually did possess a physical body that went beyond 'I don't know, I just scrounged it from the ground' like elementals or the ethereal form of follower spirits. Of course, I wasn't about to make a golem for them, not that they'd accept it, but they required a base material to create their body, a core if you would, something that had great importance and reflected the spiritualist.

They were surprisingly eager in becoming free, though constantly attempting to push the other of the non-existing race, likely believing that I'd only summon one. The jokes on them though, I was already dappling in both the honey pot of the holy side and the cookies of the dark.

Well, I suppose the joke is also on me...

The spirit of order desired the scale of Caldura and the strings of my violin, after my quick refusal, said she could bring them to me in an even better shape afterward. I knew not what that was supposed to mean, but the strings laid next to me. The chaotic spirit on the other hand wished for the dolphin toy I won for Sunset years ago. I declined, but he said that the phoenix toy would be an even better fit given how... tsunami-like the emotions were. Truth be told, the emotions of those days had seeped into the toys. I didn't dare to look up their descriptions and effects at this point, just walking into a room with them outside my inventory made me ill. The second item... made me question myself.

I sat surrounded by tables and books of Malkenir, the texts, and diagrams were hard to understand even with my big brain of nearly 800 intelligence now, even when only about 150 were in real stats, the boosts made me way smarter. The Scribe Job Class was also a huge help in understanding the deeper meanings. The information, the plans, the ideas, it was so enlightening, all those schematics I thought of about equipment to make when the forge was finally done paled in comparison. Mechanisms, combinations, recipes, and formulas of such fine degrees that just to understand I had to make wooden duplicates to see how they worked. From armor design merging heavy frames with flowing plates to spring-activated crossbow bolts and even runes and enchantments, my mind was burning and experiencing euphoria at the same time.

And yet, as I sat in a circle of grand knowledge, a brand new spirit well in the making in just the next room, and hundreds of seared bricks cooking in a great blast furnace cushioned with sponge stone to keep me from suffocating, I occasionally turned back to a certain item, but deep down, I knew it was just a distraction. I slammed my hooves down onto the smooth stone plate held up by hundreds of fine, but robust metallic strings that made up its legs.

"All this effort and pain for this useless, fucking bunch of gems slapped into refined ore." I spoke lowly while leaning over Princess Platinum's diadem and seethed with anger and hatred at an inanimate object whose makers and wearers were long gone. "When this was made the world was much grimmer. Miners dug these gems while many hungered. The metal was gathered while thousands froze. Precious resources combined into a wasteful piece of accessory while untold many suffered in poverty and all of that for this!?" I shouted out loud and threw my hooves into the air, before bringing them down again.

The plate cracked and bits cracked off while the threads below bent and broke. I took a deep breath and used my powers to slowly repair the piece of furniture, only to open my eyes with newfound spite. The Iron Halo was calming, one of its effects did it at least, further reinforcing my decision in not having chosen the barbarian class.

"All of this so that some pompous piece of shit can look in the mirror and say 'I'm gorgeous.' Greed and selfishness in any world are an infection, but this right here is the pinnacle. It's nothing special, it doesn't make the user smarter, stronger, heal their wounds, or enhance their abilities, just some sparkly shit slapped together and glued to some mare of likely incestuous background, called expensive by wine-tasters. Then the shit was stolen. People risked their lives for this shit, people killed and died for this shit, so many lives ruined and destroyed just for some wasteful, arrogant shiny shit."

I let out a quivering breath, sliding my limbs from the table and falling onto my back. I looked up with tired eyes, bringing a hoof to my face and rubbing my visage while groaning loudly. "Oh who am I kidding, I am just wasting time."

The second item the chaos spirit wanted was my mirror. Yes, the skills were preserved as far as I understood, but something within me fought and clawed at the very notion to look at that blasted thing but giving it away without even so much as privately talking to her again was so painful. And yet, as much as I wished to bury these items in the deepest depths, I was so hard pushed to use the item, reveal it to her because of guilt, because of a sense of duty, because...

"Mirror..." I spoke loudly and slowly stood up to meet the mirror before me, reflecting a grand, powerful, strong, and majestic stallion, and yet, within the crystal reflection, I couldn't help but gaze upon a nearly fifty-year-old, humanoid corpse drowned in tar. "Show me the mare known as Sunset Shimmer."

I let out a low hiss and leaned my head back with a groan as I felt my magic slowly being sapped out. While not the best metaphor, this was like comparing having your blood taken under anesthesia by a very fine hand to bloodletting, and truthfully, I would've preferred the latter to this.

The mirror made from a... utmost dark memory portrayed a swirling vortex on its surface that slowly became clearer with each rotation until a clear image could be perceived. The surface was shaking almost like water, but I could see regardless, but what I saw was not Sunset Shimmer, instead, it was a ceiling. A nice ceiling, true, wooden planks curved into an outward bending curve, though not what I was after.

"Now that is disappointing." I mumbled to myself and sat down with a tilted head.

"Hmm, hello, is someone there? Trixie, is that you? Do you know where I put my purse? There is a sale in the town square and they’re offering those delicious turnips again." I heard the voice of Sunset call out and near hooves. A moment later I saw something move into vision, I saw the mare in question walk into the screen, and although hidden under an illusionary guise, I could peer through and felt my heart race.

"Wow..." Sunset had grown up quite a bit since we last met. Before she left she was a bit fluffy, no, not chubby, I mean she wore her coat quite thick, now it was a thinner cut and she had most certainly grown both in height and muscles. No, she wasn't the mare version of hoof ball star Bulk Triceps, but she had a stable build, especially her legs, and neck.

"Huh, who said tha-... Star? Is that really you?" Sunset turned towards the water and her confusion turned towards surprise. My heart raced violently as the many possibilities churned at all the words she could spit out upon confronting me, however in the end none of them appeared. "Goodness, you have grown so much! How have you been?"

I smiled sheepishly and pushed my right hoof through my long silver mane reaching a bit further than the middle of my back. "Well, I have been training a bit since our last meeting, a tad more physical exercise and more experimental sports."

"No, I mean, you've really grown up! You've been so scrawny-and and now look at you, you look even bigger than Cadence." Sunset took a few steps closer so that the majority of the mirror was taken up by her face. I have also come to the realization, given that the white in the corner turned out to be a plate, that I was looking through the surface of a sink. Seeing her smile though, the genuine happiness… made me feel only worse about this, even when I couldn’t deny that I was enjoying these few exchanged words already. "How have you been doing, you must have so many stories to tell. Wait, how are you even communicating with me, I don't recognize this kind of magic."

"Oh that, just added a breath of my magic into the mirror, and some thoughts to guide the spell. I wouldn't call myself an artificer, but I've added my own spin on some items." My smile softened and the previous anxiety was slowly subsiding. "Gosh, I feel like I've got a million topics to talk about, but not right now. How have you fared in all those years, you seem to be doing quite well."

Sunset rolled her eyes and blew a lock of hair out of her face, before pulling off a necklace that, similar to mine, disguised the wearer. Although given that I had [Greater Spirit Senses] active, I didn't even see the disguise. "Eyes as sharp as ever."

"To be honest there is too much to just talk about. I've left Canterlot with some personal items, my purse and almost forgot my bank card. After that it has been a haze, and my bits kept me afloat for about six months after which funds became a teeny bit dry. Not all too bad, I quickly found some freelancing work, nothing too grand. Remove infestations from plantations, clean some dirty water during a drought, repair broken items: Just little things to keep afloat." Sunset sat down and rested her head on her hoof as presumably, some fond memories swelled up.

"Things only really became exciting when I came to Trottingham, and let me tell you when ponies say that it rains, then it doesn't rain, it RAINS." Sunset chuckled. "It was there where I met the record-holder of having the most soaked tomatoes thrown at her per minute. I think ketchup prices exploded in the following days. Turns out she promised a big firework show and, well, forgot to properly close the lid so all the gunpowder was completely soaked."

I smirked broadly before my ears perked up hearing a distant voice that was far too quiet for the average pony to hear. 'Trixie is not amused by your ridicule, hmpf.'

"Her name is Trixie. Trixie Lulamoon, an aspiring show mare, though a bit boastful-we're working on that. Well, I kind of saved her show by using a heating spell very carefully to dry the gunpowder. After that I have just been tagging along, though it took quite a while since Trixie allowed me in her wagon, she's quite insecure about it... and I better not tell her about your call otherwise she will banish liquids inside of the wagon." Sunset chuckled after a short pause and smiled warmly.

"Goodness I am so happy for you Sunset, I was a teeny bit worried about how you fared in those years, but only a small bit- given that if any mare can find her way around then it's you."

Sunset snorted with a roll of her eyes. "Still a sweet talker, aren't you Star."

I bowed my head respectfully. "Always was, always will be and if that's a crime, then I am guilty as charged." I spoke dramatically and didn't stop until I heard Sunset chuckle and felt the genuine happiness of others was such sweetness, it made my heart light up. "Things on my side have been a tad stressful lately. Between juggling around making art, playing the violin, exercise, and studying I have found not a lot of time to just lay in the grass. Though I have been getting quite good at casting, see."

A [Ice Spear] appeared in my right hoof while a [Great Fireball] hovered over my left. The fire burned like a small star as the chaotic amassment of flame violently swirled and pulsated like it was about to explode in a violent eruption the moment it left my vicinity.

"Wow..." Sunset said with dumbfounded amazement as her eyes and senses tried to fully understand the inner workings of my magic. "You really are becoming a powerful mage, I can't even imagine what you could achieve in the future, or how big you'll grow till then, but it will be quite silver, that much I am sure of."

I had to fight tears, no it was not an exaggeration, but hearing someone praise you genuinely, not just because it's their job, but because they genuinely care for you. Even those, I could only assume, impressively faked words Celestia would spout seemed rather comfortable. Sadly, even the lessons had become rarer by each month and I barely even see her, just her planning shadow. Well, I also had my friends, but they, including Mommy, didn’t understand half of what I was blabbering about, they were just happy for me. Which… which was also a warm feeling in the chest.

"Hey, I don't know if this is appropriate, but can I… could I visit one of your shows should you ever be near Canterlot?" I asked after dispelling the spells and tapping my hooves against one another.

Sunset Shimmer's face changed a bit and concern spread widely. "Oh, well, I don't really go near Canterlot anymore you see and we're moving on a strict plan. Trixie and my show have stepped up a bit and we only appear on stages and... Oh sard it, Star, this is nothing against you. You're a great colt and I am sure you'll become an even greater stallion, but I cannot go back to the capital or anywhere near, I just can't bring myself over it. But... But if you like, there's always a seat for you."

I opened my mouth but was cut off when I heard the mare speaking in the third person enter the wagon. "What folly has Trixie heard being said about Trixie?"

Sunset turned towards Trixie and dunked her hoof into the sink which was enough to destroy the spell. The mirror's reflection now portrayed me. Just me in a regal, and yet lonely, cavern.

"I'd very much like to..."

The Fires of the Forge

A forge for a mortal and a forge construct for the Host of the Game were two fundamentally different things. A mortal can guide its forge, though may also ruin all metal permanently, however, is free to act as they wish while bound to the whims of the physical laws. My forge obeyed no physical laws, only me, and I had to abide by the rules bestowed Unto me by the Eternals. Just like the spirit well, or at least, the one I am capable oF creating, is not a functioning thing, it wouldn't work for anyone but me. The Eternals did something to either the Game to possess reality-warping capabilities or influence reality as a whole so that when I create these otherwise non-functional constructs they may in fact perform the desired purpose regardless of physicality, metaphysical or not.

Funnily enough, there was no particular design I had to follow in terms of size, modifications, and assets, things as such. My forge has a great basin spanning five by five meters and standing three meters in height. The bricks of the first batch allowed me to create this humble construct that needed just a little key to start thumping with life.

I stood on my hindlegs and my head managed to just lay atop the wall. I laid my hoofs onto the cold, dead stone and closed my eyes. A deep breath entered my lungs and a warmth began to spread between the bricks.

A deep breath left my lungs and embers ignited within the forge as the heat rose.

A deep breath entered my lungs as a gentle hum brought life into the stone and fire into the metal.

I took Maleknir's hammer into my hooves and lifted it while breathing out and brought down the tool.

My aether crackled violently like the shock of revival, the stone vibrated so lovely and it felt like a knot formed within the basin, a most basic soul if you could call it that.

I opened my eyes with splendor and smiled as my face was bombarded with imagery mimicking the sun. The steel stone ore I gathered through the years lay there and glowed blindingly while slowly becoming liquid. I felt something akin to pride and joy within me, a giddiness I haven't felt in a while, and took in a deep breath that would've burnt the nostrils of any other pony.

I fell down onto my hooves and stared at the crystal pipes that flowed into the stone-like veins that contained heat powder, a previously mentioned mineral that could output nearly as much heat as mana was infused. I tilted towards one of the faucets on the side of the basin about two meters above ground, but metal would flow regardless.

"But I am not bringing nothing to the table either." I grinned sadly as the Hobgoblin Club and my halberd appeared near me. To create a weapon you needed material, to create an item you needed to infuse. Of course, you cannot add a stack of memories to a stick, the material needed to be capable to hold the thoughts.

A third and fourth item(s) joined the weapons. The sword of Silver Blade with the horn of his brother removed, laying next to the corpse to be burrowed. And of course the quartet of blades from the Maiden. They all would be sacrificed to breathe powers mortally unattainable into my weapon.

My ears perked up as I heard the metal bubble, it had all melted, but it wasn't time just yet. Without looking, seven ice spears manifested above the forge and fell into the basin. A violent, near hostile hiss escaped the stone, and I threw a quick glance toward the smeltery controller, a stone and crystal block that acted as the heart of the construct, though it also allowed vision into the inside. The previously molten metal hardened into stacked, crusted sheets of brimming hot metal that slowly started to melt again.

Turning my head back to the forge, I pulled out a stencil made of gold, this was the most complex creation I could make with just a heater, though even that needed some seared bricks as a working space. It didn't matter, my end goal was to replace it all with refractive stone anyways, so no resources were wasted. The stencil was of an 'ingot', but given the size of the planned bar, it might as well just been a whole anvil. Given that the forge ultimately worked and could create more stencils with the use of smelting tables and some gold from the titanic metal heap, it was a waste of time.

"Well, I suppose I could also make it fit for a average sized pony, but to directly cheat with the weapon making to save resources doesn’t quiet sit well with me. This would be my weapon, my imprint, it needed to fit to me in every way." I clicked my tongue and turned toward a rack filled with all the resources I needed, well, all those not made of Steel Rock, I supposed.

Each material with the right memories infused could bring other effects. Giant spider silk fed with soft moss could boost magic power and mana. Ivory and gems influenced certain spell attributes. Carvings, runes, and enchantments spoke for themselves. And gold, at least that of the highest quality and not the stuff used for currency, was great for stabilizing the whole construct even when granting little to no structural integrity.

My set of armor would be something grant, too heavy for any normal pony, difficult for even one of my silhouettes to bear, but for me, it would be akin to medium armor. It was just a hard fact that pony or griffin armor weighed like paper to me, and was just as effective against nightmares. I calculated that my final set of armor would be around two to three tons, which might seem excessive, but given that I was about as strong as five to seven earth ponies, and heavier than a draft horse on earth it was more than bearable to me. I think with just the armor on I would weigh about four tons, and as I said, it would be medium for me- I walked in a world of eggshells and porcelain. Also because steel stone or steel rock was about 1.367 times as dense as osmium meaning that shit was not light in any conceivable manner.

I took the four items and put them into a hollowed-out block of seared bricks, before pouring inside a bucket of my blood. Truthfully any liquid would've worked, but I combined it with another step of the recipe to save a bit of time. The items hissed violently as they melted despite being well below their melting points and wood usually shouldn't liquify. The broth glowed with various colors as the memories of glorious battle, unbridled rage, unskilled determination, and pure sadism became the breath of the item to be. I felt a twinge of sadness, in a quickly dying moment of hesitation, almost like I betrayed those keepsakes, but; practicality must trump sentiment when death knocks on your door.

I turned back to the forge and smiled as the crusted metal had regained its fluidity and placed the stencil onto one of the smeltery tables and tapped the faucet with a quick touch. The molten metal, from the inside, was drawn and brought to the spigot like magic and flowed out like the stickiest of honey as it glowed with the radiance of a neutron star and with similar coloration. The golden form took in the metal and the faucet stopped when enough flowed to fill the stencil.

"Like magic." I said leaning closer with a cocky grin, counting in my skull as I lifted my hoof and tapped five seconds later as the metal suddenly set, the heat just vanishing and a perfect ingot or- perhaps slab would've been more appropriate, sat before me. "Sweet craftsmanship, this is going to make things a whole lot easier. Huhu, hopefully, I won't overdo it... Oh who am I kidding, I will totally overdo it."

I pulled the slab out and it weighed subtly in my grasp before I tapped the faucet with my [Magic Claw] to continue the cycle. After all, I had several more ingots to make and batches to smelt. Turning back to the table that was made of a particularly tough stone and supported by an equally long and wide block of rock, I pulled out a golden quill possessing a crystal tip and obsidian frame in which runes were carved. No, I knew absolutely jack about runes even with the material at hand, but I could understand schematics and Malekenir's father had spent many years standardizing runecraft for even unskilled beings to use, ultimately unsuccessful, but everything in the mortal realm, meaning up to level 30, should be feasible at least in replication with my level 50 crafter job class. I drew a sharply curved question mark hovering over a jagged x and with a star in its curvature. The rune glowed violently with crackling blue energy quickly turning silver.

"How delicious." I chuckled and turned and placed my hoof's tip onto the ingot. "Ignis, if you would be so kind." A small orb of red appeared next to me hovering calmy. With the perks gained, I could house more spirits, though when my new spirit well would be complete all the crystal prisoners would be freed. I just chose her first for this craft. The metal glowed and once again took on the blue-ish coloration, and I let it fall onto the anvil of Malkenir that I just pulled out of my inventory, before lifting said minotaur's hammer.

The clanking of metal took on a more delicate tone with each strike, being fed my magic with each motion, rang out through the deep caverns. The anvil and hammer glowed with power, sparks, and smoke of ancient runes given life and purpose once more becoming visible. Although having gained craftsmanship of level 50, thus being well beyond that of a common person, or most commercial craftsmen, I wasn’t as arrogant to assume my skills were above all ‘mortals.’ Beings blessed by supernatural intervention, selective breeding, or those who were imparted with knowledge or skills in other ways could certainly trump me without a doubt. The work was draining, but regardless of how many strikes I imposed, the form didn't change, and I knew exactly why. I wasn't giving form to the metal in a physical sense, I was hammering the silhouette of the metal into the required shape, my innermost thoughts of how I wished it to be shaped, and until I was done, it would remain the same.

I sweat violently, the floor flooded by a thin sheet of liquid, and the sheer power I was exhuming caused it to bleach into a silvery rock.

I lifted the hammer again, but stopped and held it before my eyes as the hammer glowed violently, silvery energy crackled across it as it began to shake. I grinned and lifted it as high as I could and slammed it down. A pulse of silver-blue energy traveled several meters in all directions as the slab, having absorbed most of the energy, condensed into a marble size ball that was consumed by the thunderous powers. A moment later, the pearl morphed into the shape of a great spearhead, the crown of a spear-staff in the making.

I chuckled darkly, I was no fool believing in some righteous cause, I was well aware that soon this weapon would drown the corrupted tides in their own blood. "But first, it gets to take a small sip of mine." I turned towards the basin and took the glowing metal into my hoofs. All moisture in my fur evaporated, but my flesh remained unharmed as I lifted the blade head and slowly placed it in the mind-infused blood. No hissing, steam nor screeching, the metal simply drowned and I watched with glee as the liquid slowly entered the metal. I would've loved watching, but then I wouldn't be able to finish the rest tonight.

I turned towards an even greater basin in which my leather armor, knight helmet, and assassin set were bubbling, taking much longer to disperse. There was a hint of annoyance, never having found the rest of the knight set, but now it was worthless either way, my skin was tougher than the helmet.

"Well, work to do. Time to lose." I said enthusiastically, before turning back to the forge.

I made a long staff of steel rock and carved runes into the shaft to reduce its weight, as the armor itself would be a pain to carry. Once made, I carved out an entry point for the spearhead where I would hammer it in and solder together, yet I left a hollow space that continued into the weapon head itself, it would be where Silver Blade's horn would find a place. I was hesitant while making these design changes, but in terms of advantages, it was the best catalyst I had available, even with the great chunk (the one chunk I possessed I might add) of onyx at my disposal it couldn't beat it, especially not after having encased the horn in molten silver, using some of the few nuggets I found. Once I put them all together, I pulled out my onyx and after having it sharpened into a long and thin spike, attached it to the butt of the weapon, as the metal head was very wide, ideal for cutting and separation, but I also desired a piercing element. Finally, I dunked the staff, only the place where I held it, not the whole weapon, in a mixture of various resins from the bog to create a coating similar to hard resin or silicone.

This weapon was perhaps my most prized work after hundreds of varying tables equipped with mechanical mechanisms, rooms, items, and tools used for crafting and alchemical purposes, stone carving, and cutting to improve the cavern as a whole. Not forgetting the addition of several levels, pipework, and a waterwheel powered by a connection between the mana crystals and water crystals above the waterwheel which sat above a deep chasm, so that the magical water disappeared before so much so as touching the ground. All of these projects and many more put me now here, with the crafting of an epic item, at level 50 crafter with [intermediate]. And the power of my weapon represented all those hours spent, although even with those runes recently learned, those that reduced its weight, it was too heavy for me to wield with my physical hoofs alone, just hold. I required three limbs as a minimum and four to comfortably wield, which was luckily provided by my [magic claws].

I just needed to make sure not to drop it. Sure, it wouldn’t drop to the core of the world… but depending on the height might cause an earthquake. No, I was not joking, this spear staff was well over three tons, it was absolutely massive and something you’d expect a dragonslayer to have, just that my weapon had probably as much volume as a pegasus does. Perhaps I went a bit too far, but after having my old weapon destroyed by my own light strikes, I wanted to create an item that could survive just about anything, even planet fall…

Although now that I mention planet fall, were it to fall from the atmosphere I would be unsure of the survival chances of anything in a big radius near the impact zone. Anyways, from offense to defense!

The armor was perhaps my greatest challenge yet in terms of precision. At first, I wove a full body suit of resistant fibers from the bog plants, most of which made the palace linens look like cheap wool. Then I forged and welded a frame that was attached to the suit and me with cuffs that, were it not for my ability to equip armor with a thought, would need to be cut to take the protection off. The 'skeleton' possessed several hollow spots with hexagonal shapes that I filled with a gel made from some of the mycelium, craggadile bones, corpse tree roots, and a sprinkle of flower pollen. Now, were it not for a 'tiny' injection of aether and the delicate care of my determined craftmanship, this would be less so a solid and more of a newtonian liquid, but here we were now. Finally, I placed the plates whichs’ overlapping edges I worked with and the 'unique' lacquer- so that they could glide effortlessly; though I probably had run out with the majority of chemicals and would definitely need to buy more material as time went on. I 'painted' the armor in silver after pushing great quantities of my magic into it since I didn't want it to be a jet black set, on one hand, because of personal preferences, on the other, because black absorbed more energy.

I was not just talking about sunlight, it actually affected how resistant it was to magic and the presence of projected power...

Anyways, with the scaffolding done, I added the cloth since it added to the resistances of the set, particularly to magic and frost. A great fuzzy coat that was draped over my back and fixed onto shoulder pads that could be removed quite easily. A long kama that was affixed to my waist reached down to slightly above my ankles. Now the kama wasn't quite as aesthetically oriented as I wove it with metal threads (don't get me started on weaving metals that were denser than osmium) and placed several long and curved plates over it. Although I could regenerate limbs, I often found that losing my mobility, especially my hindlegs, was more dangerous to lose than my heart which I could live without indefinitely. It wasn’t fun, but preferable!

Although not my style, I soldered symbols onto various parts of the armor, especially the edges, and drew my cutie mark in aether bleached gold onto my chest plate in which I placed one of the chunks of mana crystal that broke off when it flattened the gate guardian. I also placed the cut onyx pieces onto my gauntlets, those gloves even possessed fingers, which I intended to move with my Silverthorne's. My right gauntlet also possessed a beautiful hexagon of a mana crystal that I encrusted with heat powder creating a makeshift plasma cutter. Not as damaging as my [Mana Blades] but capable of burning through harder materials.

I grinned as I held my great blade staff with my thorn-made fingers under the armor, rolled my shoulders to test the armor's responses, and was pleased when it flowed smoothly despite weighing more than a horse. I grabbed my helmet and winced slightly as it ultimately appeared like a heavier version of something an Evil Warmaster would wear. It was a rigged helm with its curves diverting from the main body, it appeared almost like it was carved from a singular block of metal which wasn't all too far away from the truth as it was one piece with nothing movable. Three slits that span vertically allowed sight, with two horizontal ones that crossed the line where my eyes were. The inside was also fed with the impact gel, and the slits were filled with an experimental, self-grown crystal I made by mixing materials such as tungsten, silicate, and a bit of homemade steel to create a surprisingly durable glass, though I was sure that it was only so resistant because of the shape I cut it in and its small size allowed it to divert the impact. And when I say self-made, I just hurled a lot of ingredients in the forge and 'allowed' the construct to combine some materials to mix.

I turned towards my mirror one last time before it would be sacrificed and smiled as I saw a legendary knight you'd perhaps applaud to if he were to walk your town's streets. I shifted my shoulders just to test how the coat hung, before easily ripping it off and throwing it to the ground, waiting a moment, before infusing my powers into the armor. The aforementioned fur just crumbled away into nothingness while a new one found its place on my armor again.

"Alright, I won't have to fear turbines then..." I chuckled and held my clawed gauntlet in front of my helmet, the ivory tips made from the yeti-like beasts luckily didn't click loudly like most keratin would usually. "Goodness, I wonder how Amber would react seeing me like this." I smiled warmly, falling onto my hooves and grinning stupidly under my helmet seeing that the plates shifted with me into my feral position. "Would probably be screeching violently as to why I am alive, a horse, alive and a horse, before asking if she could ride on my back."

"Don't worry Amber, there might not be a single person who could get along with any situation better than you, but your big oaf in plated armor will always have your back." I leaned closer towards the mirror and there was the faintest hope of perhaps reaching her worlds away but I was abided instead with a smile. "And I will treasure our reunion until the day finally comes."

Summoning the Spirits.

I smiled proudly while rolling my neck as I sat atop a throne of stone carved from a singular block, or rather, a bunch of bricks I mended together, before sheepishly averting my eyes from the throne the hobgoblin once sat upon. Turns out that either the ol' fatass never fully sat upon the hideous monstrosity, or weighted less than me with my armor on, though the result of a pile of broken furniture in the corner remained the same regardless.

I looked at the corner of my vision and noticed that right now it was about 2 in the morning, so, roughly four more hours until I would need to return to the waking world. The hunters at night are much worse than those strolling during daylight, though it would help with my kill quest. Remaining in the Hideout had its ups and downs, while I was safe here and comfortable, I gained no sleep nor rest, and my position in the overworld would be unguarded upon my return. On the other hoof, my limp body was not open to intruders as seen by the trio of griffons.

I let out a stifled yawn and leaned back as the comfortable interior of the armor was slowly lulling me into sleep. Without the game, it was so silent, that I didn't even notice my eyelids closing when all of a sudden a ping rang through my skull.

"Right..." I grumbled sourly. "The spirit well is done." I slowly stood up, before quickly putting my beloved armor into my inventory as the crying of the stones below my hooves rang out. -And regarding inventory capacity, I had flushed out everything into the storage in the Hideout that I didn't need or wasn't spoilable because I would not eject all my corpses gathered, at least the plants would soon leave inventory once I managed to finish the garden area of my base. Yes, turns out that light gems could produce artificial sunlight, though I didn't intend to grow anything from it because if I needed the produce I could just pump Aether into it to jump several months of wait. No, it was just to store the stuff for a time when I could need it.

All those ingredients would be perfect for paper for the scribe, food for the cook, and material for the crafter.

Walking towards the spirit well, I squinted my eyes as the 'water' inside the stump had become so vibrant and, I know not how else to describe it, I think that I can't even see the wood below the surface anymore. I rubbed my eyes slowly in an attempt to push the sleep away, it was mental fatigue that plagued me, not physical. I slowly lowered my naked hooves into the well and smiled as I felt a sort of string connect to me, and my capacity for spirits expanded. It was like a bit of stomach space just cleared out after the mightiest of burps.

I chuckled sweetly as I pulled out the follower spirits of air, ice, and nightmare. The sensation was indescribable, it was akin to holding a newborn that quietly rested within your grasp, a blank slate, though their character is somewhat predetermined. I shivered when the ice crystal fell into the well, my mane flew when the air shard fell, and when the nightmare gem submerged in the pool I couldn't help but feel a native familiarity, though the feeling faded as fast as my memories of the knight I once crossed paths with, or the one who threatened Sugar Drop. I wonder why a spider would even have such a piece to this day, I mean, it would have to possess hands to use it, no?

I giggled when three new orbs of their elements' representative color floated from the well and joined in a circle now six spirits long. They were like children, just zooming around the room chasing whatever they were after.

My ears perked up when I felt the voice of an almost peculiar companion spirit: Avalyn.

"You know, of all the things you could've asked, I am wondering why these." I mumbled and pulled out two items. The feather of a phoenix, one owned by the supposed (only) friend of Celestia, a mythical creature I only so much saw as a feather falling from the sky. I still wanted to see that 'Philomena,' though I had more pressing concerns. "And a flower blossomed from my Silverthorns." The flower bore a gray stem and a head that reminded me of a shampoo-covered bathing sponge. Before Avalyn asked for it I didn't know the extent I could mend and 'mutate' these vines, though I still needed more practice after I finally got that [Imbued Weapon] skill to work. Still, I was intrigued by what weapons I could weave.

I placed the two requested items into the liquid and my eyebrows shot upwards when the brew became energized, before grasping the nature spirit's gem, and pushing it underwater like I was attempting to submerge a balloon. Just a second later, a violent wind blew from the well, though for me it may have been a strong breeze. Green energy crackled across the liquid and my hooves, but it hadn't hurt in the slightest, quite the opposite, it was invigorating. I felt how the gem was expanded and slowly pried my hooves away equal to the speed the form expanded. Suddenly, the water surface broke and I finally met the spirit.

"Wow, now that's what I call an avian." I spoke loudly and took a step back as a bore witness to a great, lime-green bird with grand wings that accounted for half of its mass, a voluptuous torso, slender and long claws of gold, and gleaming eyes of ivory.

Avalyn chuckled lightly while ruffling her feathers, though her voice sounded like the most delicate of crystal bells. "Mhm~ a breath of fresh air, in the darkest of caves, yet life in every crevace, my caller seems to have a taste for life most primal." She averted her eyes from the interior of the cave and laid them towards me quite hefty. "Though this is hardly a surprise for one to have become one with a root most violent, tamed and calm. Avalyn, the songbird of nature."

I mimicked her slight bow and lowered my head slightly. "Star Touch, spiritualist, battle sorcerer, and craftspony extraordinaire." I said most politely. "Though I also engage in cleaning the stain of corruption and residues of evil from the realm. Music is a side hustle of mine, however, and the violin is my favorite."

"How charming, but there's no need to downplay the tasks to come. We spirits are aware of those able to purge the dark ones, and I have no doubt that it's a task I too will be engaging in by association with you." Avalyn spoke with a lowered head, before lifting her beak and climbing out of the well. The songbird stood only a bit lower than Hauhuthos, though in personality they were the opposite.

"Be at ease, there were no attempts at hiding, I just hoped for a lighter note, but being on the same note is a refreshing development most assuredly." I lifted my own head and watched closely as the Avalyn walked a few steps away from the well, stopping by the frame of the door.

"Do not be surprised, I have heard the duo you wish to awaken. Chaos and Order usually cannot be wielded by the same master, then again, never have I ever seen a being holding light and dark without... melting." Avalyn ruffled her feathers and spoke the last word like a heavy hit on a xylophone.

I only nodded as I threw the four items in the now once-again-clear brew. The liquid turned into an ever-shifting pattern like two spheres of colored glass placed inside one another, rotating at a slow speed.

I heard the two spirits protest violently to the point that my hooves holding the shards began to vibrate and attempted to rip themselves from my grasp. With a final grunt, I pushed my hooves shoulder-deep into the spiritual booth. Unlike the summoning of Avalyn, this actually invoked a great sense of discomfort, not pain per see, but like two people were tugging at my arms in the opposite direction.

"Oh don't struggle so much!" I hissed as forces at play attempted to dislocate my limbs. Suddenly white and yellow energies crackled across the liquid's surface and traveled up my hooves and whenever those two streams met, a violent thundering ensued. The conflict grew more violent with each second as the set-free powers attempted to change my surroundings and me towards their representative element.

When the two crystals expanded at once, I felt how I was thrown back against the room's wall and my body submerged in the moat around the spirit well. "Urgh." I groaned pitifully, pulled myself up from the liquid and looked down at my hooves, and saw a similar altercation to when I bathed in Caldura's blood, though now my right side was more orderly instead of a mockery of it.

"Hahah, freedom at last! Come young master, chaos needs to be sowed!" An echoing, but still crystal clear voice called out.

"What foulness are you spouting, I was chosen and not-what in all orderly!" A second voice, this one could be compared to a glass panel. Clean, straight, and easily understood while possessing a razor-thin edge to her tone.

"Eck! The fun breaker got out!" The chaos spirit was a great floating mirror with a comedically large smile in the shape of a crescent moon, a square, and round eyes, though still possessing a sort of distortion to his' face's surface. Four floating, disconnected, three-fingered claws. One of those claws grasped me by my non-existing shirt's collar, stretching my skin to impossible lengths. "How could you allow this crone in the same room as me? I thought we had something special." He called out in a whinny noise while shaking me.

"I just met you..."

"We will have had something special!" He reinforced everything he just did by amping up his gestures and expressions.

"The crone would like to have a word as well." The 'crone' in question floated towards me and pushed the floating mirror away with pristine strings that, just like her, were unaffected by gravity.

The spirit of order appeared to me like a very long, scaled, and furred ferret with short wings. Insignias of gold and symbols of silver littered her body like a full-body tattoo. Her eyes were like gleaming pearls and felt like a soothing cold on a hot summer day.

"Host, I know your kind well, I have served two of your lesser kin for many years, so please do heed my warning: chaos is not a long-term plan." The spirit of order threw a foul glare toward her opposite who was badmouthing her with his mouth covered by hundreds of strings. "And Opmir is one of the worst picks to take."

"Mhph!" Opmir reacted seemingly allergically towards that statement and used his floating claws to cut the strings and tackled the floating mammal away. "Oh please, Faitebell. Your fluffy butt is as helpful as a candlestick in a bright day while it rains! The first one died bombastically, and the second couldn't stomach your constant blabbering after twenty-five years of your squabbling. Why, I'm not surprised that he ended up drinking every potion before going on the; oh how would you call it, suicide run?"

"And your 'companions' lived so long, hmphf? One combusted, another teleported towards an inhospitable realm, and don't forget about that second last one! What was his name again? The one that went and-!"

"Oi, that one's a low ball, even I disadvised him from going that far, walking pelt!" Opmir floated towards Faitebell, and poked her against the chest.

I sighed, and shook my head, and shook my head even harder when I looked at Avalyn who hummed and tapped her claw against the stone in the rhythm of their arguing. 'So this is my life now.' I sighed quietly, leaned against the edge of the well, and stared inside.

"Corpses of warriors. Muscles. Green skin."

I retracted suddenly, and looked around the room, only to take notice that the sudden voice entering the scene had gone undiscovered. I rubbed my chin, and hummed quietly, before mentally going over my inventory and picking out the goblin who once possessed my halberd, and the hobgoblin. The voice was of a spirit, though it was unlike companion or follower. Was it perhaps the guardian spirit I could unlock for some time now? It wouldn't surprise me if the guardian spirit, unlike the other two kinds, chose the spiritualist instead of the other way around.

I would've asked the Game, but, well, he was being quiet right now.

I picked up the two bodies with my magic and dropped them into the well, and to my amazement, they fell like boulders into an ocean. For a solid minute only the arguing and now quiet singing of Avalyn could be heard until a bowling ball-sized orb of brown floated from the water.

"I could've sworn I didn't summon another follower spirit." I muttered, before turning towards the trio of spirits who stared at me with eyes wide as headlights at me. "What?"

Suddenly threads, floating claws, and feathered wings grasped me tightly and pulled me out of the rooms quickly. I tried to ask what their deal was, but all I could hear was their chaotic, distorted und unorganzied rambling. After having had enough of the foolery, I rammed my hooves into the stone floor, or rather, through, stopping the trio momentarily.

"Don't wait."

"Make haste."

"Abandon ship!"

"What's going on!" I shouted, and threw their appendages and likewise away from me. "You're acting like I just ended the world."

"No." Opmir's face connected with mine and spoke through 'gritted' teeth. "But you revived someone who can!" He hissed violently and sounded even more orderly than Celestia ever had.

I quickly turned my head back to the brown sphere. Suddenly I felt a drain on my mana and let out a gasp as I fell on one of my knees. Flesh and bones began to burn into reality, like reverse disintegration, as a titanic, hulking figure slowly began to form layer by layer while my aether was quickly sucked down the drain as if I was attempting to infuse with every square meter of stone in this dungeon.

The creature stood six meters tall, a hulking, slouching, green beast of muscles and veins. It appeared somewhat humanoid, if not closer to ogroid with its great, powerful arms. The spirit's head turned towards me, and scarlet red, pulsating eyes stared with rage unimaginable into me, while his great white mane that reached down to the middle of his back merely rustled like a dead bush in response.

It took powerful steps toward me as the impact was felt throughout the entire cave, the hideout that was covered in response, though not a single pebble broke in its wake.

The second the trio of spirits tried to move, I enveloped them all with my magic and slowly guided them behind me. I tried to push them, but given that they shared my level, they took it as a firm suggestion.

The beast soon stopped before me, and grunted between huffs and puffs, before falling down onto one knee, supporting itself only with one fist without which it would've fallen over.

"It has been a long time, master."

...

'GA-A-A-AME!' I shouted within my skull and through every depth within my soul to finally so much so as to gain a sudden twitch from my partner in violence.

"Have we met before?" I asked while I felt the presence of the Game quickly drawing near.

"Not you. Many horns goat. The host before you. Called me to fight immortals. I loyal to him." The spirit called out, his stance seemingly neutral towards me, if not at least in the slightest positive due to my affiliation. His great hand reached out, with his index finger pointing at my chest.

"I have no recollection of ever having met you, entity Matombo, former rank: ancient spirit, current rank: guardian spirit." The Game spoke through me towards the one named Matombo, and the sensation of his voice vibrating through mine made me want to lick anything with even the smallest taste. Even the ground.

'And why do you know about his history? Is he that well known, or are you not telling me something? AGAIN?' I asked with my thoughts in an intense tone. Looking back at the green skin before me, I tried to find out a bit about him, after all, titles could sum up one's past.

Blood Ocean
Kill a minimum of 75% of a given race. Attacks become more powerful against an enemy depending on how many of its race's members you defeated.

Mass Genocide
Kill 100 species regardless of power. Erasing a species grants an assortment of attribute points.

??? Pony Massacre.
Kill at least one million ponies regardless of tribe. Deal double damage against all equine enemies.

And the list went on... and on... and on...

I could feel how the succulent flesh of my mouth's inside attempted to press itself through the cracks between my teeth as I involuntarily sucked in more and more air through a small slit between my lips. I felt a quivering in my chest, in the flesh between my heart and ribs, and an icy-cold sensation that also scratched quite fiercely. I think I was feeling fear in that very moment as, while searching for the creature's power, Matombo's level of destruction it could bring, I found that in a head-on-head fight, the only way I would be able to beat it would maybe be to bring us both cracking into the nightmare realm or trap it on an empty world.

"Y-...You don't like ponies very much... do you?" I asked twice, for at first but a mumbling whisper escaped, though the threads on my limbs threatening to take me away, the quiet whistling of uncertainty ringing in my ears, and the tapping of several floating claws, most certainly gained me no confidence.

Matombo let out a low hum, any sane man would've called it a subdued roar, before lifting his eyes from my chest to face level. "The core follows you freely. I will speak to you. I speak like to core." The masses of muscle shifted ever so easily as if the enormous weight of his body was like a feather. "Matombo old. One of oldest spirits. Many master. Kings. Emperors. 'gods.' Even Eternals. I kill many. Core sees hooves. Core sees snout. Core sees wings. Core sees Horn. Core sees roots to dirt. More. More. More. Doesn't matter. It pony-like, so pony."

"O-Oh... Well, I guess it does make some sense I suppose. " I mumbled while shifting the grasp of the other three spirits in the room, and slowly walked forward while intensely trying not to come off as, how would a sane person call it? A yes, not shivering in my boots. "Okay, so rule number one, don't hurt ponies-, stop, scratch that. Don't hurt anything that isn't an animal trying to eat me, or a nightmare."

"."

".."

"..."

"Matombo not dumb beast. Matombo cursed to speak dumb. Me not dumb. Me was scholar. Learned with Eternals." Matombo's face sank slightly like he was bored and a bit let down, though perhaps my prejudice was only slightly justified given that the creature looked like it could make do with a plain rock as soap.

"Alright then, well, I kind of lost the wind in my sails here, and..." I started and continued to let out a drawn-out 'and,' before my gaze fell onto the forge far off at the end of the corridor. "Well, I wanted to have a little meet and greet, but it would seem like we got three and a half hours to kill, so how about some nightmare-murdering?"

"Yeah!" Opmir shouted like a yak, no, scratch that, yaks probably shouted like him given how old he likely was. "I mean, I am all for it." He now responded a bit timider when he realized that he was the only one to share such exhilarating enthusiasm. Matombo was slowly shaking his head with disapproval like a creaky grindstone.

"Let's go flat-face, there's conquest to be done." Faitebell finally broke the silence and turned from disgust to a somewhat neutral, if not slightly, very small, positive expression towards me.

Rolled my eyes, before calling my equipment toward me, and looked into my inventory just to ensure that some of my new tools were present. The majority was, much still needed to be tinkered with toready, but it would suffice given that all my resources, including the annoyingly hard-to-refill faith, were brimming as well.

With a final farewell to the hideout, I let reality slide off us all, as the drums of war were about to sound.

Crafter level 50→59

Iron Halo (Accessory)
Level: 60
Rare
“The Iron Halo is a treasure awarded to individuals who devote themselves to those less fortunate with no desire for reward or praise, acts of pure kindness absolute. Members that follow these ways will soon find themselves blessed with the chances they grant others as powers to further their streak of good deeds. May the Holy Baum shade your journey.”
- The author’s quote desired to not be mentioned.
*Increase the effectiveness of faith-based skills by 20%.
*Decrease dark damage taken by 10%
*Once a day may you permenantly bless one attribute of a creature of your choosing once.

Juggernaut Helmet
Item Level 120
Rarity: Epic
A helmet forged to dwarf the unending tides of the nightmare. A great metal horn with a small opening at the tip can be seen. The two crosses symbolize for vision, one for the connection between Aether and Mind and the other for that of the nightmare. The third slit represents blindness in the combination of both realms. Although a helmet, it in itself, glares eternally.
*500 Physical Armor
*250 Magical Armor
*Heighten perception
Legacy aspects:
*+12 Dexterity
*Assassin set 4/4 - Reduces visibility and sounds made. Stealth and critical attacks damage increase by 50%

Juggernaut Chestplate
Item Level 120
Rarity: Epic
A chest plate forged to dwarf the unending tides of the nightmare. The cutie mark of the wearer is openly displayed on the chest plate, and its back is covered by a thick worgmuk pelt stuffed with giewee moss. Several gems boosting the users magical capabilities and ressitances, as well as those that reate a shield, can be seen littering the armor piece.
The heavy, moving, interlinking plates of steel boulder represent the users position as a bulwark against the nightmare and their ability to change.
*800 Physical Armor
*600 Magical Armor
*1000 Mana Shield
*Boost magic power by 15%
*Boost magic control by 15%
*Decrease Frost Damage taken by 20%
Legacy aspects:
*+5 Dexterity
*Assassin set 4/4 - Reduces visibility and sounds made. Stealth and critical attacks damage increase by 50%
* Increased perception

Juggernaut Leggings
Item Level 120
Rarity: Epic
Leggings forged to dwarf the unending tides of the nightmare. Heavily armored, muliti-plated leg protection made from steel boulder to which a metal woven kama and a belt bearing wrath metal daggers are attached. The heavy leggings represent the unmoving stance of the user against his foes.
*750 Physical Armor
*550 Magical Armor
Legacy aspects:
*+5 Dexterity
*Assassin set 4/4 - Reduces visibility and sounds made. Stealth and critical attacks damage increase by 50%
* Increased perception

Juggernaut Gauntlets
Item Level 120
Rarity: Epic
Gauntlets forged to dwarf the unending tides of the nightmare. Heavily armored gauntlets with interlinking and interlocking plates protects the wielders limbs, and end in ferociously sharp claws with ivory tips. The twelve ivory tips can all be used at once to quickly cast at the cost of magical potency, furthermore modified mana gems are encrusted into the metallic wrists. The elegant yet brutal form of the gauntlet represent the fine line between a hunter and the prey they pursue.
*350 Physical Armor
*1000 Magical Armor
*Heighten perception
*Quick casting at the cost of magical potency
*Welding Blades: Fire damage: int * 5. 100 mana/minute.
Legacy aspects:
*+5 Dexterity
*Assassin set 4/4 - Reduces visibility and sounds made. Stealth and critical attacks damage increase by 50%
*Increased perception

Kenos Bladestaff
Item level 150
Rarity: Epic
A weapon forged from blades that tasted the blood of mortals and nightmares alike. This weapon is drowed in black, absorbing even the strongest ray of light with the exception for a in silver cast horn planted in the titanic blade itself granting the user magical options beyond their normal limits. The weapon itself is too heavy for any mortal to properly wield and even with supernatural physique required four limbs to handle. A perfect onyx shard is found at the butt of the blade allowing for short-ranged, but incredibly potent, magic. The weapon creator desires to see the death of all nightmares while reserving their refined techniques as a symbol for their determination.
*1500 Physical damage
*Silver horn catalyst: Boost magic potency by 2
*Onxy catalyst: Boost magic potency by 3.
*[Wind Blade Slash]
Channel a violent wind in the blade and release a powerful, long-ranged strike. Deal 2000 Damage at the cost of 1000 Stamina and Mana to all enemies and objects in a line.
*[Rock Crusher]
Deal 500 Damage and apply three stacks of broken armor on an opponent at the cost of 500 Stamina.
*[Human Wrath]
When destroyed, the human wrath will be cast onto the destroyer.
*[Phantom Strike]
Half the damage of the next attack, however the strike passes all damage, effects and heavily reduces stamina and mana of the target.
*[Wide Slash]
Slash forward in a cone and strike with much greater reach than otherwise possible at the cost of 250 stamina points.

Evelyn
Level - Master’s Level
Class - Songbird
Race - Companion Spirit
HP (Health Points) - 6000
MP (Mana Points) - 10500
SP (Stamina Points) - unlimited
STR (Strength) - 200
END (Endurance) - 400
DEX (Dexterity) - 400
INT (Intelligence) - 420
WIS (Wisdom) - 480
CHA (Charisma) - 298
LCK (Luck) - 444

Opmir
Level - Master’s Level
Class - Warped Mirage
Race - Companion Spirit
HP (Health Points) - 7500
MP (Mana Points) - 11000
SP (Stamina Points) - unlimited [--- per minute]
STR (Strength) - 350
END (Endurance) - 125
DEX (Dexterity) - 501
INT (Intelligence) - 87
WIS (Wisdom) - 15
CHA (Charisma) - 999
LCK (Luck) - 999

Faitebel
Level - Master’s Level
Class - Light Weaver
Race - Companion Spirit
HP (Health Points) - 8500
MP (Mana Points) - 9000
SP (Stamina Points) - unlimited [--- per minute]
STR (Strength) - 350
END (Endurance) - 275
DEX (Dexterity) - 500
INT (Intelligence) - 850
WIS (Wisdom) - 323
CHA (Charisma) - 734
LCK (Luck) - 331

Matumbo
Level - Master’s Level
Class - Armagedon
Race - Guardian Spirit
HP (Health Points) - 20000
MP (Mana Points) - 1500
SP (Stamina Points) - unlimited [--- per minute]
STR (Strength) - 10000
END (Endurance) - 9500
DEX (Dexterity) - 200
INT (Intelligence) - 875
WIS (Wisdom) - 789
CHA (Charisma) - 2
LCK (Luck) - 100

Spirit (Wis) Capacity:
Stats: 798
Follower Spirits (6): 60
Companion Spirits (3): 300
Guardian Spirits (1): 250
Rest: 188