Episode 60: Living Weapon Masters

Arson had to ignore the slight vibrations that came from his watch. He walked down the hall and read the notifications that had come after he survived his Fearless title being triggered. Something that Anastasia hinted would probably continue to happen more and more.

“Living weapon - you have created an instrument. A living weapon that can grow and learn as you do, *Warning, yada yada yada, wait what did that say?” He reread it over and over to the point that he stopped walking toward the conference room.

“By the sparks of the maiden,” said Arson as he pulled the weapon from his spatial inventory. The weapon immediately stopped vibrating, and Arson noted the changes that had occurred since he put the weapon away. It had grown longer and the black deepened to the point that random colors flickered through the shaft and blade of the weapon in the light.

“How much of my inventory is gone, Anna?” asked Arson, though afraid to know the truth.

“Around 99% is untouched, but she got to your collections of weird mana stones and dungeon cores before I could stop her. Sorry, Arson. I did try, I swear,” said Anastasia.

“She?”

“Yeees, she is currently nameless by the way, which is semi disrespectful to her kind,” stated Anastasia with a small nod. Arson looked at the scythe that he now felt connected too, and wondered at a name.

“Vibrate if you like the name, Ocean?” Nothing happened and Arson sighed.

“What kind of sophisticated woman wants to be named after a large body of water? Are you calling her fat?” asked Anastasia with a pout toward Arson.

“No, I’m naming her after the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen besides the sky itself,” said Arson, who felt his weapon vibrate when he said the word, Sky.

“Not ocean, but Sky?” The weapon answered with a simple vibration that made Arson smile.

“Well then come on Sky, we are already late.”

When he walked into the silent conference room Arson wondered if the sham was up, but waited before he spoke. Until things remained silent for so long, he wondered if they were under some sort of calming skill effect.

“Everyone okay?” Nothing was said, most just looked between each other, with the exception of Troy who just smiled and stared down Ash.

“Weapon Master Gestalt, are you ready to begin? If so I can go and gather the Raid Corp contract team?” Arson nodded at Sprinter and took a seat at the opposing end of the table from Autumn. He tried not to stare down Ash in the same way his girlfriend now did, but felt cared for somehow.

“So do we get to know why we are all here now,” asked Autumn. Arson nodded, but still said nothing, instead casually caught up with his friends while they waited.

“You think you could survive in a red zone?” asked Troy. The question was directed at him, but Troy still hadn’t looked away from Ash when she’d asked him.

“No, absolutely not, but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t try,” said Arson with a laugh. Troy nodded at first, but the words seemed to register on a delay and the frown she gave him made him speak up.

“Only kidding, love, just a joke. I swear I don’t plan on trying for quite some time…”

“I’ll end you myself before I lose you to the dump, Carter. Know that to be as true as the honor you just gained is rare,” said Troy. She then immediately turned to glare at Ash once more.

“Guys, let’s let this portion of the meeting complete itself, so that we may speak more freely,” said Arson with a gesture toward the group of new Raid Corp execs that entered. He wanted to defuse any potential animosity that may spawn early on between his siblings and his friends,. For his plans to work he would need the illusion of peace to remain present at all times.

“Hello, Royal family heirs, and members of the Black hole conglomerate, we of Raid Corp humbly welcome you to our meeting table,” said the young man that led the trio that entered.

“My name is Jennifer, and this is representative Leon, and Venn,” said the girl beside the first young man to speak. She gestured toward each young man accordingly, and Venn even bowed when she spoke his name.

“It is an honor to meet you all, it is not very often that a new weapon master is born and enters our playground, especially with such talented friends. Your level of skill with your weapon is normally more suited to the introverted type,” said Venn. His voice was soft to the point that Arson wondered if he was reserved in nature, and assumed as much when Venn refused to make eye contact with everyone but Arson, and Ash oddly enough. His sister seemingly unable to look away from the new groups members.

“Shall we begin?” asked Jennifer. She wasted no time and took a seat beside her peers. Then she began to tap away on a tablet she pulled from thin air, or a hidden spatial inventory skill or unseen item.

The others took seats, and Arson smiled toward Autumn who gave him a nervous glance.

I haven’t talked to Autumn much, but I don’t remember her being socially awkward, thought Arson to himself. He watched his eldest sister sweat, and look as if she was about to stutter, even before the first question was asked.

The flurry of demands and offers came from all three representatives at once. Which obviously left Autumn flustered, her more introverted traits the only thing that was being displayed through her slight nods when pressured to answer, or glances toward her younger siblings for help.

The group targeted her every weakness, and Autumn remained without support. As the eldest, she was meant to lead, and prove that she could lead in her every action and decision.

So none there could offer any guidance, nor did most feel authorized to do so.

By the time Arson knew that he was going to be forced to step in on his sister’s behalf, the situation was already a few words from being considered a full on catastrophe. The Raid Corp representatives were skilled in a way that most common cultivators were not.

I don’t know if I would have let her beat my sister up over something as small as contractual law, maybe if I were petty I guess.

“So if you acknowledge your required terms of the contract to fulfillment, we then allow for you—“ Arson chose his timing to do multiple things at once. The first was to speak up. The second was to summon Thinker.

The handprint on Arson’s chest flashed, and everyone there felt something occur. To Arson, it was a sensation equivalent to a drug when he used mana for the first time since his return. For the others, it was a moment of pressure that made all those breathing to stop.

“You’d get spun,” said Arson, as Thinker started to emerge from his shadow. The hooded form of himself, crawled out under his direction, to appear as if the task was a torturous struggle.

Thinker made a good show of pain ridden grunts and cries while he stepped off of Arson’s back and over his chair. No one in the room moved, even after Thinker fell to the floor heaving for air to fill his lungs. Arson truly commended his acting skills, forced to keep a straight face, even as Thinker laughed in his mind.

“My lord,” said Thinker from a knee at Arson’s side. Only then did others begin to look at one another, and Arson loved that only Troy was able to keep shock from her facial features.

“I need you to look over this contract while I speak to her,” said Arson with a point toward Autumn. He then pulled a vellum from his watch’s inventory, alongside a few swipes on its screen that caused a light to flash from his wrist that inscribed the previous conversation across the parchment’s face.

“Look this over, I can’t intercede on her behalf, but I can speak with her privately, I want you to be able to negotiate with her by the time I’m done with her, am I understood?”

“Yes, my lord,” said Thinker. Arson came to his feet and strolled casually around the table toward his eldest sister. All eyes were on him, until Arson twirled a finger in the air. Xani missed the practiced signal, until Arson gave her a pointed look.

“Sorry bu—“ Xani stopped herself dead, and Arson couldn’t help but notice her glance toward Thinker’s still kneeling figure.

“Sorry, sir,” said Xani. Arson’s guts twisted at the thought of Xani listening to him out of fear, rather than respect, but knew that the appearance of power needed to be absolute in that moment.

Xani lifted her and Arson’s newest experiment. The robotic glove on her hand made Auto’s eyes bug out of his head, and Arson watched Xani force down a snort at his older brother’s face when she made three hands rise into the air.

After Arson had shared how he wore, Jack, Jill, and Jane, his Living hand Constructs, on his shoulders and back; Xani decided to do the same, not having a better system herself.

The three hands flew above Arson and Autumn, before a small dome of sound could be seen like a glass shield, until it disappeared, and Arson spoke.

“What do you want out of this deal?”

…

Autumn was confused. The question she’d just been asked floored her. Made her rethink who was on her side, and even what side she wanted to be on.

According to Ash, all of the BHC members were demon spawn, or trash born mongrels. Yet…

“What do I want?”

Yes, what do you want,” said Carter Gestalt from his cross legged position on the floor in front of her.

“You seem to want to do things that help nature, and your fellow cultivator, so…” Autumn didn’t know what the young man expected of her, but maybe that was the point. He didn’t expect anything of her, he just wanted to know about what she… wanted?

No one had ever asked her that. She tried to think back on all the season cycles she could remember, and knew it to be true.

“Why do you want to know?” She may have been internally flustered, but still had enough training to remain dignified. Her parents training granted her at least that, if not the love she desired alongside her siblings.

“Isn’t it obvious, I want to know because I believe that this is an opportunity for you to gain exactly that, so if you don’t know what you want, then how can you even recognize a situation were you could gain it,” offered Carter. She didn’t know if she was being pitied, but dismissed the thought because of the look in the man’s eyes.

“You are being serious, aren’t you,” asked Autumn, her last attempt to see through any guise ended as she felt ridiculous feeling that the young man in front of her was trying to mislead her. The young man in front of her was determined, determined to achieve something in this moment, or even every moment that he could.

“Princess Autumn, I don’t have time, to waste your time…” Autumn nodded at those words and couldn’t help but look around at the room of people around her that spoke but couldn’t be heard. The privacy made her feel safe in a way that allowed for her to think. So she did, a brainstorming session between her and Carter Gestalt commenced, and her life changed.

…

“So what do you think they are talking about in there,” whispered Troy to Xani who had a rather serious face on.

The others chatted between one another loudly enough that no individual conversations could be heard without obvious mana usage, or skills. One skill had actually been activated and could be felt by most in the room, the skill’s minor use to overhear ignored. While the other skill to overhear was too powerful for any in the room to distinguish who used it, it could be felt triggered by those in the room with the ability to use mana to enhance their hearing, Troy… couldn’t include herself in that group.

“Shhh, I’m trying to listen to what they are talking about,” responded Xani with a raised hand to block Troy’s intrusion into her personal space when she leaned in to whisper.

“Are you sparking kidding me, tap me into the coms, you greedy street—“

“Finish that sentence and you’ll be the only one I don’t bloody let hear the conversation between those two monsters in there.” Troy’s mouth closed and she nodded furiously at Xani’s serious gaze.

“Please, with all the sparks and love in your heart, please let me hear,” whispered Troy with a big smile. Xani tapped a few buttons on her flatscreen, and before Troy knew it, she could hear Arson and his sister.

“So let me get this straight, those games would allow me to feed how many people,” asked Autumn.

“Ooh, this is probably going to be good,” said Troy playfully. Xani shushed her again, and Troy recognized that they had drawn some attention, especially from Auto, who probably knew what Xani was capable of.

“I’d also be able to make how many points per round if we did it that way?” Autumn voice came through the coms and Troy and Xani couldn’t help but look at one another in suspense, waiting for Arson’s answer.

“Ooh,” said both young women when they heard his answer.

“Is he serious?” said Troy in excited shock. Her squeal-whisper was enough to bring the full attention of the Raid Corp representatives, as well as Rob, and Khalif.

“Girl, I don’t even know, that seems like a lot,” said Xani at a completely normal volume.

“Sparks, if I made that much in a single game of Rampage Square I’d be able to stay on the top floor for like what a few dozen fortnights, maybe longer right?” Troy’s question to Xani prompted Rob to snap his finger at the two, who looked in his and Khalif’s direction.

“Read your chat,” said Rob while seemingly pointing downward at nothing. Both girls frowned, and opened their Overlays. Both looked down to see a chain of messages from their party members.

Arson: Xani, are you listening in on the coms? Shut it down if you are, it’s hard enough keeping a straight face not being recognized, let alone knowing you are laughing in the background. Give my sister a break, doesn’t seem like she does this often.

*Khalif and Rob have invited you and Xani to a private chat!*

Rob: Don’t shut it down plug us in, woman, and I’ll give you free meals for a week, anything you want!

Khalif: Please! Please! Please!

Troy looked at the mix of emotions that flickered across her face as she read the messages and bursted into laughter. She knew how hard it would be for her to pass up Rob personally cooking for her, as she didn’t know if she could turn that deal down for anything.

“What you gonna do? I’d take that in a heartbeat,” said Troy before she once again bursted into laughter.

“Shut up, Troy, and don’t act like I’m not potentially risking my life,” said Xani with a frown and a pat on her belly, before she too bursted into laughter.

“You know that I can’t let you go unpaid for all of this advice, I know that you help my sister Aura grow, but I fear how my actions could lead to later downfall if I don’t compensate you properly before we go any further. My honor demands at least—“ Both Troy and Xani froze when Arson cut in through Autumn words on the coms, his voice in their ears like lightning bolts that demanded their attention.

“If you mean that I will work out a permanent 13% point funnel into my own accounts and a 27% point funnel into your own for as long as they use our Feed the World premise as a primary event, additionally I will work out that this is a production from the Royal Crown Scions and the BHC, but that is only if you are choosing to share the Royalties with your siblings, not to mention this could just be an Honor mark on your own portfolio,” stated Arson. Troy and Xani froze in expectation after they both inhaled deeply. Suspense of what could unfold next spinning their minds in many potential directions as they waited.

Rob: Come on a Fortnight of personal cooking, no spatial inventory food at all, not even desserts!

Khalif: Please! Please! Please!

…

“Just sparking ask your little friends to let us hear what’s going on in there, Aura, it’s not a big deal obviously,” asked Ash with a gesture toward, Rob, Khalif, Xani, and Troy of BlackHole. The group was huddled and seemed to ooh and aah at moments too coincidentally aligned with the soundless conversation being had between Carter Gestalt and their sister, Autumn.

“Already tried, one of those outburst of laughter was aimed at me, I’m pretty sure,” responded Aura with a sigh.

“Wish I could have been on mission today, I bet that conversation is pretty groundbreaking for our sister’s shyness,” said Aura. Auto nodded beside Aura, having had been offered something truly amazing due to Carter Gestalt only moments before he entered the conference room himself, and Auto wondered if he would have had the same courage to speak so casually to him days ago if he would have known his strength with a scythe.

“I don’t blame you, sis, I’m thinking about taking both the deals being offered to me, I bet it’s fun working with them,” said Auto with a smile. Aura smiled and nodded back at her older brother.

“It is, and—“ The room went silent once more when Carter rose to his feet and spun his finger through the air once more. Xani triggered the bubble around Carter Gestalt and their sister to pop, and somehow change the pressure in the room.

At first Ash and the others thought it was the new weapon master of The CityNation of Maelstrom, an achievement so large it would touch the corners of the realm as a whole. Only it wasn’t until Carter sat down and Autumn stood, that they all realized the pressure came not from Carter, but from Autumn.

…

Arson returned to his seat and whispered to Thinker, “Rise, and consult when necessary, no more, no less.”

Thinker rose, vellum in hand and made his way toward Arson’s sister.

He watched the shift in the room. The power dynamic turned on its head.

Autumn wasn’t a new person, but a determined version of herself. It was the ferocity in her own eyes, that lit his soul ablaze.

From the knowledge of runes, to finding my own prominence. I will become the embodiment of potential, by showing others how to find their purpose, as I live out my own.

An alignment occurred in Arson’s mind, body, and soul. The gateway above his cerebral realm opened in that moment and Arson could feel the completion of his crown begin within his soul realm. The powerful manifestation of his inner will, positioned itself in-between the gateway that was his first opened node and began to draw in power rapidly.

Arson felt his head spin and the room flipped to the point that he didn’t know his left from his right, nor up from down.

Title granted: Limitless potential: Only those with the will to understand how dangerous the thirst for knowledge, and the potential for death in its pursuit can lead to both Purpose and Prominence. Will you show the realm how to be limitless?

*Stat restrictions removed from Overlay*

Title fusion triggered. Titles; Godling, The Fearless, and Limitless Potential, fuse to create: The Fearless Godling of Potential. Auto-assign triggered.

Core completion triggered: Body core, Limitless Crown of Sovereigns chosen… Time until completion 3 days.

Arson tried to stay upright. He even tried to summon another gestalt form to support him in the moment of weakness, but no power came, everything he produced or absorbed being swallowed whole by his crown while it finished itself internally.

Before he passed out, he only had one thought, and he said her name when he knew that whatever was occurring, may kill him in the process. He managed to speak when their eyes met.

“Troy…!”