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

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

Both the alloy and the ax are great items. The alloy is a chunk of metal that I might be able to smelt in the future. But for that, I will need more experience, much more. Either that or I need to find someone to do it for me. If I tried now, it could just end up wasting it and leaving me with a mere rare grade weapon, and I may wind up ruining the careful mix of metals in the process.

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

Its performance seems to be comparable to an epic weapon at the moment, and the damage is very much visible. Perhaps it can be fixed and restored to its former arcane status.

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

“Most likely. How long do you think Nevan’s patch job will last?”

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

I nod, already putting it away. I’ll have to be careful not to let him steal it.

Duplicaniel knows what I'm thinking but doesn't seem to mind. Instead, he holds the ax, and I allow him to keep it.

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

“Master?” Vega says. awakening me from brooding as she slowly regains consciousness.

“Just take it slowly,” I tell her.

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

“Where is mister Nevan?”

For a moment, I think of lying but then decide against it. Rather than my protection, Vega needs to learn about the kind of world we live in.

“He died,” I tell her.

“Did master kill him?”

“I did not.”

“Was mister hurt, is that why?”

“You could say that. But it wasn't just a physical wound. He had a skill like ours. But in the end, he decided to stop using it and didn’t think he had anything left to live for.”

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

“I didn’t; it was his decision.”

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

“I’m sure he didn’t do it without thinking. He must have been considering it ever since he woke up.”

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

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

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

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

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

At that, I pinch her horn. Such a cheeky little thing.

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

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

At this point my duplicate joins us, “And what would you do after that, Vega?”

The little half-demon looks between me and him. “I would find who did that and kill them.” Her red eyes seem threatening now. “I would tear them limb from limb and hold their beating heart in my hand. I would wait until they fully understood how weak they were by comparison. Only after that I would kill them.”

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

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

“Yes, I am!” Vega says happily jumping on her feet and goes to examine the core.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Part of me wants her to stop being like that but part of me thinks it will be better for her survival,” I inform my duplicate.

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

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

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

I shrug, “We will use force if they don’t.” I glance at Vega who’s tapping on the core with her fingers, “The Valley will become too dangerous for us to stay here, and with the help of those four assholes, we may be able to make the Bastion fly again. Plus, with as much mana as this core contains, the defenses should be much stronger.”

“You don't have to persuade me. The sleeping noodle above us is troublesome enough and we don't know how it will react to the patched core. We may have another problem if we can’t bridge the cores.”

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

The duplicate's senses keep examining the damaged ax in his hand, and I can see the gears spinning, “It's a shame we can't move the core. But with the sheer amount of mana it’s holding it’s impossible.”

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

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

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

“You say that, but you have no idea what’s going to happen. Wanna bet it just pisses him off and gives him a reason to hunt us?” he snorts and stands up. “I’ll look around a bit more. Take a peek at what remains of Nevan´s father. The dude must have been durable as heck when he was alive. I bet most of his traits were geared towards that.”

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

Would it be even capable of doing that? Maybe? Theoretically, it shouldn't be able to, as the orb won’t use nearly as much mana as the core contains, so the sheer amount should overwhelm it.

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

Damn, I really want to try.

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

Nevan said that he had probably been a traitor, judging by the amount of damage he caused, but I have to wonder, is that really it? What he was a good man, trying to prevent the Veil’s activation at all costs, even at the cost of the lives of his family and friends in the station?

Isn't it sad for a man like Nevan to die with those thoughts? He was so talented, a blacksmith, gifted for his ability to create alloys. An amazing variety of alloys for any situation that functioned by virtue of carefully crafted combinations of metals, without needing inscriptions. I think Nevan was a genius in his field, capable as he was of creating low and mid grade arcane weapons even with Champion Niall’s help.

Yes, he was human in the end. Valued as he was by the Absolute of this planet. Despite the fact that he had a concentration skill he couldn’t handle his own emotions. But was he really as weak as Vega said, or is it just hard for me to imagine fighting for tens of years and losing friends one after another? Creating weapons for them, only so they can leave, never to return.

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

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

Cutting off my thoughts there, I lean lower to look at the charred body, its head, and heart purposefully destroyed. Denying the man any chance to heal.

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

Looking at the charred place where, with a concerted effort, we burned Nevan's body, I sigh. Even after death and with the diffusion mana, and his body weakened stat, this will be extremely difficult.

“Sorry, Nevan,” I say, and after spending a big chunk of my mana to send through the blade, I slice away at the thin pieces of charred flesh remaining on his right hand. The hand that held the ax and the one that bears the most damage.

Spending more mana than I would like given our current situation, I'm able to get finger bone from pointing finger and store it. I also notice that the pinkie is missing, likely taken by my duplicate.

POV Isabella Martinez

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

Seneca looks up to me. As she should, my disciple is shorter than me, but I'm still jealous of her hair. It’s short and blue and floats in the air, like flames. I want mine to look like that too.

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

That’s dumb! Is she dumber than Soph?

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

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

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

Sensing emotion from Noodle who’s currently twined around my arm, I look at him.

“Why are you getting so cocky, Noodle!”

Another emotion.

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

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

I'm the master here!

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

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

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

Then I turn to Seneca, “And you! I will keep calling you minion if you don't listen!” I add.

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

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