Choosing An Element
Robert was shocked by this, he had assumed that there would be no need for complex mechanisms in this world because of the game changer that was magic. If you could do something easily with magic then why would you invest the extra effort to create a mechanism that did the same thing with a little less effectiveness.
[Actually, forging is largely figuring out how not to use magic on things. If you use magic to accomplish an effect then you have to use mana to power it, certain materials come with side effects and you can only enchant something with one material. Even disregarding those, magic is far more costly and has very strict limitations at the lower levels of power.]
"But why even call a product of forging an artifact then?" Robert asked.
[That's a bit harder to explain. The short explanation is that it uses magic beast or manaform constituents, the long explanation is that there are two ways to make an artifact. The first way is Runecraft, doing things this way gives you almost full control over the item you create. The second way, has three steps: first is alchemy. In alchemy you mix different manaform constituents to create a new substance that is as close to the runic pattern you want as you can feasibly get. Then comes forging, you select the correct manaform constituents to create the item and put them together according to a created plan. Finally, enchanting is the process of combining the forged item with the alchemical creation and imbuing mana. Even in Runecraft, forging is used frequently as it is far less hassle.]
"That makes sense, but what do you mean 'you can only enchant something with one material'?" Robert asked, thinking of the arrows that used earth and wind elementals.
[Enchanting coats the blade in a magical substance that contains some kind of runes, if you try and do it again then the runes can mesh strangely. Best case scenario; the second layer of enchantments is active while the first is inactive. Even that can usually only happen in rare cases like the lineage weapons.]
"What are the lineage weapons?" Robert inquired, remembering a small reference he had seen in one of the books in Anders's library by a fellow villain. 'The armies of light march further every day, the Stellae Murum won't even slow them. The Star Watchers are doomed to an existence in legend alone, our observatories will fall to their march, our blades of Starsteel will shatter under the heroes blows... and our lineage weapons will be cast in an iron shell.'-Astrum Mercy, first and last leader of the Star Watchers, two hours before the 'Silence of Stars'.
Robert remembered those words now, as if he was being urged towards power by those that had held the mantle of villain before him.
[What were the lineage weapons. Most are gone now.]
"But what were they, why are they important?" Robert's curiosity was further incensed by App's mysteriousness.
[They're sentient weaponry, beyond mere artifacts, they are relics. When a force is established, the ruler binds their blood to their signature weapon and when the ruler dies their soul becomes one with the weapon. The weapons are a mark of rulership. More importantly though, the original leader's souls are only half of the weapon's personality, the other half comes from the forces Warbeast. The lineage weapons let you control the Warbeast of a faction]
Robert was feeling tired, every time he tried to peel back one layer of this ridiculous world, he would end with more questions. He really needed to read more, whenever he had the time. Robert decided to live in the present and ignore App and his infinite exposition for the moment.
"Hey Adrian, how's your work coming along?" Robert asked cheerily.
Adrian glared at him. "I'm doing fine, I've already finished one of the swords. What do you want?" Adrian said curtly.
Robert flinched at Adrian's tone. "I don't want anything, I was just interested in how one of the three people that I can interact with easily was doing."
"I need to get back to work, not all of us can just magic our way out of every problem, some of us need to work for their achievements." Adrian turned back to the roaring forge and gathered materials.
Robert left the room, he could hear Ignatius asking why Adrian had been so harsh in a whispered tone. Robert headed back to the library. He had many things left to learn.
...
Robert read for a few days, he learned a lot about the world. He still had another two days until his meeting with Stella was due, so he had decided to choose the element that he would specialise in. After considering various elements and element combinations, Robert chose to specialise in abyssal magic. He had chosen this element after learning that the tester that resided there was weaker than the others.
Robert grabbed Logan's 'mage tester' from his spatial ring and touched the purple gemstone in the neutral section. He felt himself being pulled into the crystal and his vision faded to black as his consciousness departed his body.
...
Robert opened his eyes and saw a strange world of vegetation, as far as his eyes could see was filled with endless greenery, grass and moss. Robert stood up, looking around with his mana sight, he saw that this world was different from the fire realm that Efrit had lived in. Where the fire realm had contained mostly fire with very few other elementals, this realm had an abundance of all elementals, except for night.
Robert walked forward and immediately heard a voice in his mind.
"Hello there, I assume that you're looking for me. I'm just down the stairway to your right, don't keep me waiting." the ancient voice filled his mind.
As the voice spoke some of the vegetation shifted, moving out of the way and revealing a stairway made of dark wood. Robert shrugged, heading down the staircase. As he walked he saw the staircase and surrounding walls change into different species of wood and new kinds of plant life sprung out from cracks between the wood.
At the end of the staircase was an open archway made from some kind of moss and ivy covered bark. Looking through the stairway, Robert could see a waterfall. It looked like he would have to pass through the waterfall if he wanted to get to the other side. After checking that it was safe Robert walked through the archway... falling head first into its plunge pool. Robert panicked for a moment before remembering that he lacked the need for air.
As Robert walked out of the underground lake he got a good view of the place he was in, the rooms walls were covered in bio-luminescent moss and the rooms floor was overgrown with grass.
"Please, make yourself comfortable." the voice interrupted, causing Robert to spin and see... a suit of armour. The armour suit was filled with a strange purple light and a strange helm that was made of black, metal shards contorted to match the being's words in the same way a mouth would. Robert began to walk over to the suit and once he was a few metres away from the being it conjured a throne of moss and vines similar to the one it sat on.
Robert sat in the chair, facing the being, he leaned forward in fascination and the being mimicked him. "Who are you?" Robert asked.
The being leaned back in its throne -Robert too note of the fact that the vines that made up his throne seemed to contort to keep him in good posture, while the moss was as soft as a cat's winter coat- and regarded him for a moment. "I am Barathrum, The Progenitor. Eight of the Chained and Imperial shard of the Abyss. You are Robert, The Villain. Last of many and first of the free -or so you believe-, so Robert..." Barathrum put special emphasis on Robert's name, holding on to the 't' until the last second and making it seem as though he was referring to his new guest as 'Robber'. "You want power, power over life and death, your life and death. But why should I give it to you?"
Robert looked directly at the entity. "You don't have a choice." Robert's entire body swelled with muscle and his mind worked far faster as he absorbed the surrounding abyssal elementals and rushed the Barathrum with his spear -it glowed bright blue in his hand-. Barathrum summoned vines to hold Robert back and disappeared into his throne.
A maze of gargantuan redwoods rose from the floor of the room to its ceiling, trapping Robert within. Barathrum's voice boomed out from all sides. "Don't overestimate yourself. Defeating me may force an acceptance of you as an heir of the abyss, but you aren't nearly strong enough to do so. These devices were made for men that could walk across the stars, not mere mortals.
Robert ignored Barathrum's speech, instead concentrating on amassing enough heat to overcome the redwoods natural resistance to flame that seemed to have been put into overdrive. Robert managed to burn small holes in the redwoods that he could jump through, but his vision was still obstructed. "This could be settled with a chat you know." Barathrum said, and at the same time a mass of vines burst from an opening that was formed by the redwoods shifting out of the way.
Robert froze the vines, channeling the heat he had pulled from them into his spear. As his spear burned white hot, Robert could feel his hand burning where he held it. Robert put his hand on the tree beside him and imagined the life draining out of it. As Robert's life drain skill activated he felt even more abyssal elementals flow into him. The tree rotted and became dry, Robert punched forward with all the force he could muster, ripping apart his muscles and turning the towering tree into rotted splinters. The abyssal energy flowing through him healed his muscles as they ripped.
"Impressive, you have ingenuity, but no matter how smart you are... Everything is crushed beneath absolute power!" Barathrum said, he stood in front of Robert, covered in vegetation. His entire body was covered with a thick layer of bark, while vines grew from his back in the shape of angelic wings. On one of his arms, a large mushroom quivered and continually released spores, in his other hand, he held a chainsaw like weapon made of quickly rotating, thorny vines.
Robert sighed loudly. "This really isn't getting any easier." Robert charged at Barathrum with his spear, striking the mushroom and causing the spores to ignite. Barathrum grabbed Robert with his vines and slashed at him with his chainsaw. Robert conjured his mana armour to block the blow, but he could feel the chainsaw slowly breaking through as Barathrum made a sawing motion with it. Robert stabbed at Barathrum with his spear, forcing the plant obsessed entity back. Freed from the vine's grasp, Robert burst forward once again and sliced through the bark armour. Even as the armour began to reform, Robert grabbed the metallic being and tried to siphon the life out of him.
Robert felt life force trickle out of the entity, but he could tell that it was nothing to him. Robert could feel abyssal elementals within the entity, innumerable in number, like a deep... dark... abyss. Robert fell unconscious with a last remark from Barathrum ringing in his ears. "Another fool, just because our strength is suppressed in these machines... doesn't mean that we are comparable to mortals like you. Rest well my fool, and awake... as another demon of the endless Abyss."
...
Robert woke back in the real world, filled with rage, unending rage. The Abyss flowed through him... he was a tool of its will. Robert felt his energy being pulled away from him. "No! My power! I need more power! I must consume more!" Robert shrieked. The excess elementals were pulled out of his system and into his crystal arm and disappeared from his sight, the ancient, venomous voice returned. "You are my tool, mine alone. And you are more beneficial to me with your free will intact."
Robert fell to the floor drained and tired, but returned to normal. He sat on the floor and moped for a few seconds before a message from App resounded in his mind.
[Congratulations, you have comprehended the abyssal element without the permission of the Abyssal Arbiter. You have gained the title of Biosavant. 'In a world of ironclad rules... you are the exception.']
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Nathair_Insint
Nathair_Insint Check out the new 'Questions' chapter for anything you want to know!
Weekly Power Status
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