Universe's End

Chapter 190: Upgrades for the Aspirant

"This is shit," Rory said, inspecting the rings.

"Pardon me?" Kai asked, looking aghast.

"Shit. These rings. They're shit. For you, specifically."

"Shit?"

"Yes, yes, now stop looking at me like I'm a child who cussed for the first time," Rory chuckled. "The Lord Founder does, in fact, swear, quite the revelation I know."

Kai's brow furrowed as she looked between the rings and Rory.

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Right, let me break it down for you. These rings, made of Night Copper, right?"

"Yes."

"And that's your problem. You shouldn't be touching Night Copper with a ten-foot pole. The only person I'd recommend using Night Copper less than you would be Mr. Chief Protector."

"But why?"

"How much of the history of Night Copper do you know?" Rory asked, genuinely curious how much of that 'lore' was known by now.

"It was a material created by you and the early citizens of Ehkorrus."

"Correct, but from what?" Rory prompted.

"I'm… uncertain."

"Night Copper was created due to my inability to take a hint."

"Huh?" Kai Rong seemed flabbergasted. In a few short moments, Rory had gone from the enigmatic and profound Lord Founder to someone speaking circles around her; he may as well have been babbling.

"Once upon a time, I received some material from a battle with my Bane, a material that Eon made clear was impossible to recreate. So, I attempted to recreate it anyway."

"Your Bane? The monster from the stories that nearly destroyed Ehkorrus once before?"

"Something like that," Rory said, waving it off. "Anyway, I attempted to recreate the unique, bane-only material, and skipping a lot of the story, it eventually led to Night Copper. Now, can you tell me why that would be a problem for you?"

Kai Rong frowned, thinking intensely for several moments before raising her finger.

"Does it have to do with the origin? Something to do with your bane?"

"Bingo!" Rory said, glad she'd caught on. "Night Copper has faint echoes of my bane within. My bane, which is meant to oppose me."

"And that's an issue for me because I have similar affinities and abilities to you?"

"Bingo number two!" Rory said. "Yes, one hundred percent correct."

"If that's the case, do you avoid using any Night Copper?"

"Nope, but that's the difference between us. Your entire thing, your entire path, is all about harmony and such."

While Rory had tuned most of her harmony discussions out, he hadn't completely ignored everything she'd said.

"The situation with you, requiring a high degree of harmony in your intent and actions, has thrown a wrench into your own workings. It may not be drastic, but it's about the details themselves."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Kai Rong asked.

"Simple. Your new rings will be made of something currently never seen."

"What about my robes and under armor?' Kai Rong asked.

"Blood weave was a smart choice," Rory nodded. "But yes, I'll handle that. Well, I do suppose that covers everything."

Standing up, Rory was preparing to leave, having seen enough, when the younger woman called out to him.

"Wait, Lord Founder."

"Yes?" Rory said, turning around. "Something else?"

For a moment, Kai seemed to hesitate. The meeting hadn't gone as she'd expected; the Lord Founder had quickly changed up in attitude and mannerisms the moment he was no longer stuck with a larger audience, and it had taken Kai off guard, everything she'd mentally rehearsed thrown out the window.

"Well... I have questions… questions regarding my path."

"I'm not sure I can offer much advice," Rory answered honestly. Kai Rong was clearly walking the path of a pure martial artist. Aside from what seemed to have been some small level of alchemical training, something he'd noticed referenced in one of her skills, the woman was hardly someone that Rory felt qualified to advise.

"Surely not," Kai Rong protested. "You are the Lord Founder, the one who established Ehkorrus, the forefather of blood."

You know that title just sounds overly ominous.

Titles that made Rory sound far more sinister than he cared for aside, Rory paused, giving the girl's words some consideration.

"Fine. I do believe I have something I can do for you."

"Really?" Kai Rong asked, sounding more like an excited child in that moment than a woman in her sixties.

"Sure, but I'll need to take those with me." Rory pointed back toward the rings he'd only just handed back.

"Why?"

"Are you going to pester me with questions, or trust in the Great Lord Founder?"

Rory had meant it more tongue-in-cheek than seriously, but the minute he said it, her face paled as she vigorously shook her head and all but threw her old Night Copper rings at him.

"Well then, I will have your items delivered to you in… oh, a week or so."

"That soon?"

"I work fast," Rory said, resisting the temptation to flex, something he most certainly would have done had he been talking to Apostolos.

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"I may only thank the Lord Founder for his endless generosity then, and the honor he does myself and my clan." Kai Rong clasped her hands together, offering him a bow as Rory mentally sighed.

Well, I've had enough of this for one day.

"Yep, totally, honor and all that. Well, would you look at the time, I have very important Founder-y things to go, so take care and tell your father I said good luck and all that jazz."

Rory's 'fake-it-till-you-make-it' battery had run dry, and with it his ability to put on any semblance of a façade for any longer. Really not wanting to deal with the looks and words of honor from Kai Rong's family, Rory decided upon a prompt exit.

Thrusting his hand skyward, the air seemed to crackle before a lance of lightning cracked down. Taking advantage of the moment Kai Rong shielded her eyes, Rory twisted the light around him and dipped as quickly as he could, vaulting over the buildings like they were small obstacles rather than an entire building. While the effort of twisting light around himself wasn't anything close to 'true' invisibility, with the distraction of sound and light from his bolt of lightning, it was enough that Rory was able to escape without the woman ever realizing where he'd gone.

Finally.

Having escaped, Rory let out a deep breath.

"Finally, I can take care of more important and pressing things," Rory sighed.

I've got to get home fast, as I promised Roxy some macaroni.

As the sound and light faded, Kai Rong fluttered her eyes. She hadn't been expecting the sudden lightning; one moment, the Lord Founder had stuck his hand up, the next, he was gone in a flash. For someone of her caliber, sitting just outside the Elite Four-

Or, technically, the floor of the Elite Four now.

-The fact that she hadn't been able to track what had just happened only solidified her view.

The Lord Founder truly is a heavenly-sent general.

Only a week later, Rory held his hands on his hips, inspecting his work with a grin.

Not bad.

On a desk in front of him, a desk he'd brought into Astra's room, several items were placed.

"Now I just need to - Astra, what are you doing?"

"What?" The star fairy was floating over his shoulder. "I was curious."

"You were there as I was making them." Rory sighed.

"But I was in BIG form. Now I'm in small form."

"That's… you know what, whatever," Rory sighed as Astra landed on his shoulder.

"What's that?" Astra started by pointing at what looked like a black metal circlet.

"Crest of Twisting Isolation."

"Spooky," Astra said.

"Not really," Rory laughed. "I took Ms. Rong's Night Copper battle rings and reforged them into a crest that could be worn. It can do two things. First, when wearing the crest, you are drawn into a world of darkness that you must puzzle your way through. Really, it's just a mental construct from my own Mind Palace that I managed to insert a reflection of into the workings of the inscriptions covering it. Downside is, it's only usable by those with a blood affinity, as you need to be able to peer 'into' the traces of my own Ghost Message that I used when I inscribed the runes with some of my own blood essence."

"Uh-huh," Astra said, eyes almost glazed over. "What does that do?"

"Think of it as mental training. It's almost like a man-made Trial, except no fancy rewards, most of the 'puzzles' are essentially just things I've come to understand about my own blood affinity."

"Ohhh. I think. What else does it do?"

"Once you've cleared the pseudo-trial, you can use it to enter an artificially constructed mind space similar to my own Mind Palace. It's not nearly as expansive and flexible as my own Mind Palace, but for someone who doesn't have the skill for it, developed or gifted, it can be beneficial to work with, especially if you're all in on meditation and that sort of stuff. Of course, it's limited in duration before it needs to 'recharge' but still pretty nifty."

"Oh… why?" Astra asked.

"Because she asked for advice, and while I doubt I can help her much in the fashion she wants, I figured this could be a 'training tool' to deepen her conceptual understanding and also a place to retreat her thoughts into."

"Oh… That's kind of boring." Astra said after a moment, as Rory had to resist the temptation to flick her off his shoulder. "What's the next thing?"

"Her new battle rings," Rory said, pointing at eight red rings. "Ensouled Blood Iron. I considered Vermilion Titanium, but ultimately decided against it as I wanted to try something a little different. Anyways, Ensouled Blood Iron, new metal I whipped up, though it's mostly an improvement on existing stuff. Crimson Steel is essentially a version of Stabilized Steel made from catalytically enhanced Enriched Iron, except the catalyst is bloodwood coal. Ensouled Blood Iron is what happens when you take enriched iron, have it undergo some inversion processing-"

"Oh, that's why you asked me to release some of my energy," Astra said. Only a few days earlier, Rory had the stellar fairy release a blast of her starlight into a chunk of metal.

"Yep, but as I was saying, you take inversion iron and refine it with a lump of alchemically fired Star blood Sequoia wood. On that note, I get the impression from my home that she really doesn't want me taking any more pieces off from her for some time."

"You can talk to trees?"

"No, but I've had a connection to that tree for long enough that I could get a sense," Rory laughed. "Anyway, Star Blood catalytic coal is a lot like bloodwood catalytic coal, except a whole lot less hostile and corruptive in nature, focusing more on the concept of blood as it connects to one's essence."

"So… what does it do?"

"As a material? It's tough, only falling behind Promethium and Daybreak ingots, and it resonates with blood essence, allowing blood-related skills or energies to channel and travel between it more easily."

"Okay, but what does it do?" Astra repeated.

"What, you want it to make you breakfast?"

"I wouldn't mind eating it for breakfast."

"Ravenous," Rory muttered as he shook his head. "Nothing, it's about conceptual alignment. Now I have added some runes to each ring, but given that they are rings and not full-sized weapons or armor, only so much space. Each ring has a single limited extra function, but they require the addition of a mini gem; otherwise, the rings themselves are small enough that the energies would burn them out, so the gems act as insulators."

"Ohhhh. Fancy." Astra finally floated over the last item, a garment rather than any fashioned piece of metal. "And this?"

"Woven Essence Silk. Taking fibers from my home-"

"I thought you said you couldn't use any more from it?" Astra interrupted.

"Yes, and this is part of why." Rory rolled his eyes. "Where was I? Oh, right. Taking fibers from a Star Blood Sequoia, stripping them into strands as thin as a hair, and then re-weaving them with leftover fur I had from a monster I encountered in my travels-" Rory briefly thought of the ape that had guarded the entrance deeper into the volcano that he and Zoey had bested. "I wove them together while infusing a healthy dose of my blood affinity and foundational affinity, at a ratio of ninety-nine to one. Honestly, I can't draw out any more foundational affinity than that, but I digress. Mixing a tiny amount of stellar matter into the weave like a varnish or a coating, I finally wove into the robes themselves some runes that should grant it some limited self-repair functionality. She will need to feed it pneuma, her own blood, and a lot of external fabric."

"So… you're saying you're done now?" Astra asked innocently.

"Yes. Why?" Rory asked.

"So, you will leave now?"

"I feel like I'm being kicked out."

"Because you are," Astra zipped off his shoulder, hovering in front of his eyes as she stamped a foot before yawning.

"You've been here so much recently that I never get to snooze anymore. I need a nap! Bye-bye!"

Exploding into light, the fairy reconsolidated within the center of the room, as a deep rumble radiated out.

Did she just snore?

Chuckling quietly, Rory picked up the items and left the room as quietly as he could. Truthfully, he could understand Astra. Before he'd returned to Ehkorrus, she'd more often than not been left to her own devices; the only person who would likely work directly in her room would be Gil, but almost anyone else would be at risk. Left to her devices, she'd grown accustomed to napping most days.

And then Rory had returned. While it was evident that Astra appreciated the company, even she had a limit compared to Rory's unending need to be working on something.

"Alright, Rory, to-do list time. You've prepared the boosting ritual for Ehkorrus a while back. You've also finally finished with the gear upgrade for the five top fighters of Ehkorrus. Huh, that really only leaves one last thing."

The walls. While the walls wouldn't be ready for the wave, not by a long shot, he needed to have everything prepared by the time the wave arrived, as he planned to use the windfall of ascension energy to seamlessly integrate it all, which would potentially cut years, if not decades, worth of time down on manually changing the walls into a quasi-organism.

Because it wasn't just the walls. Oh no, not by a long shot. Initially, that had been the plan, but the longer he'd spent working on his Bound Space attempts within the core room of Ehkorrus, the more a single thought had begun to worm its way into his head.

If Ehkorrus has a heart, it has a core, and it has 'blood' flowing through, why stop at making just the walls a quasi-organism?

A smile crossed his face, one that, if anyone were paying attention, would have been promptly described as rather sinister.

Why not the whole damn city?