TS5: Chapter 7 (Patreon)

After reforging the staff’s outer form into a spear, however, came the hard part. In order to make the adjustments to the spirit of the staff, he needed first to compress his will into it. When the staff had first been created, that had required him to hammer away at it, infusing slivers of his will with every strike. Now, however, Thorn found he didn't need anything so crude as a hammer. Instead, he took the staff in hand and began to express his will once more, flooding the staff with it. Sensing the faint presence of the nascent spirit, Thorn surrounded it with his mental sense and began to communicate with it. Though he did this every single time he meditated, he had never gotten more than a faint sense of goodwill from it. The spirit was simply too young to be able to engage with him.

What he hadn't realized when he had started the process of spirit forging was just how long it took spirits to awaken. After all, he had only crafted this staff a few years ago, and typically a spirit wouldn't awaken until it had gathered hundreds of years of experience. Thorn, however, had another plan in mind. With a flash, his surroundings changed, forming a world of yellow and black. In the center of this endless expanse was a single flicker of white, and Thorn knew he was inside the staff, communicating directly with the spirit. Moving slowly to ensure he didn't damage anything, he held out his palm. On it danced two streaks, one of purple stardust, another a crimson flame. Neither of the two was actually present, but instead were merely suggestions of what Thorn could offer the spirit.

Like ink, the darkness swirled around Thorn, forever chased by the yellow energy of the earth. But when the spirit caught wind of the two elements Thorn was offering, it grew agitated, shivering and causing the surroundings to swirl all the more fiercely.

"It's yours if you want it."

Hesitantly at first, but with growing boldness, the spirit came forward, approaching Thorn's outstretched palm, until it was only a few inches from the two threads. Here it paused and seemed to be looking at Thorn, asking if it was all right.

"Yes, they're for you," Thorn said.

It needed no more permission, and without an ounce of hesitation, the nascent spirit surrounded the two strands, beginning to absorb the knowledge of the fire and arcane elements from Thorn. He felt the prick in his mind as it began to devour everything he knew. But Thorn didn't stop, and little by little, the spirit began to swell, faint purple and red lights beginning to shine around it.

The staff held the elemental affinities that he had when he created it. But according to what Eve had theorized, using this method Thorn could continue to strengthen the spirit, helping it grow until it reached full maturity. Each element Thorn added would carry with it a tremendous amount of mana, bolstering the spirit even as it bolstered the staff itself.

With Thorn's perfect affinity, it took a considerable amount of time to transfer all of his knowledge. And when he was finally done, nearly 12 hours had passed. The spirit in front of him had grown considerably, from a faint flicker into a solid white light. Now, instead of simply darkness and earth mana, the staff contained arcane and fire mana as well.

And as Thorn finally opened his eyes and stood up, the notifications he saw flashing in front of him made him laugh with delight.

*ding*

[You have created a mythic weapon, an achievement few blacksmiths have ever managed.]

[Physique +5]

[Presence +5]

[Intellect +5]

[You have formed a bond with the mythic weapon, Arcane Immortal’s Halberd.]

[Weapon Spirit: +5 Intellect]

[Earth spells: 200% comprehensive increase]

[Darkness spells: 175% comprehensive increase]

[Arcane spells: 175% comprehensive increase]

[Fire spells: 175% comprehensive increase]

[All other elemental spells: 125% comprehensive increase]

[Average casting time: -90%]

[Mana cost while using earth, darkness, fire, or arcane spells: -50%]

[Average mana cost: -10%]

[Instant cast spell slots: 0/4]

[Titan’s Weight: This weapon’s weight is beyond the strength of any but a Titan, making it impossible for anyone but a Titan to wield it.]

“That… I mean, I knew it would be improved, but I didn’t think it would improve that much,” Thorn said, examining the black halberd he held with awe.

His new weapon had improved on all of the effects of his staff, while adding a few more benefits. With a hum, the void edge lit up, giving the halberd blade a faint glow that tinted the Codex of the Mountain a light purple. From end to end, the halberd was eleven feet tall, and its weight was nigh impossible to measure. Thorn could feel the heft, but when he swung it, there was a lightness to it that allowed him complete control. At the same time, simply placing the butt end on the ground caused the stone floor to crack, indicating that its weight was tremendous.

“Not only did the staff grow, but you did as well,” Eve said, bringing up Thorn’s status.

**STATUS**

Name: Thorn, Master of the Void

Race: Titan - Voidforger

Destiny Points: 16

Physique: 62

Presence: 47

Intellect: 74

Tier: 9

Milestones: 15 [Locked]

Abilities: 12

Background Tags: 8

The status screen that popped up in front of Thorn's eyes was considerably shorter than normal, but as he thought about each item, they would expand out, showing him the precise details before collapsing back into its simple form when he moved on to the next item. His physique and presence had both grown by six, while his intellect had grown by eleven, thanks to the bonus from his weapon. Over the last few months, he had gained a few destiny points and milestones, but there hadn't been any major changes other than that. All of his stats were well above the typical cutoff for the ninth tier and even though he hadn't ascended to the tenth due to the lack of growth in his divinity, Thorn was starting to realize just how strong higher stats made him.

Up until this point, his pursuit of power had largely focused on his abilities, the magic he could cast, and the martial arts he knew. But as his stats inched ever higher, he began to realize that the effectiveness of everything he did was closely tied to the numbers on his sheet. With a physique of 62, he could crush most ninth tier fighters without any fancy tricks, simply overpowering them directly. This had been demonstrated when he faced off against the Anazi warriors the Elemental Kings had summoned to guard the Labyrinth. They lacked all of the fancy tricks that he possessed, and yet their strongest warriors were more than a match for him when fighting with simple weapons and raw power. This had led him to realize that the greatest way he could increase his overall strength was through improving his stats.

As his intellect jumped, he was able to see the world around him clearer, and process the information that his domain fed back to him more quickly. As his physique improved, he found himself able to execute his martial arts more smoothly, and every time his Presence rose, he found the people around him easier to decipher and understand. This had led him to a further realization. No matter how much he improved his abilities and spells, they were all limited by his perception of the world as that determined the way he interacted with everything around him, and it was only through fundamentally changing his paradigm that he was able to draw out the full power of new abilities.

"I think I like this simplified view," Thorn said. "It makes more sense to me. Is there a limit to the numbers? I mean, is this out of 100 or something?"

"Instinctively, I want to say yes," Eve replied, "but knowing you, you're going to blow past any limit I declare, so I think it's probably safer to just avoid stating one in the first place."

"That's fair," Thorn said, "forging is really helping me improve, so I'll need to keep at it, but I also have a couple of other things to focus on."

Thorn closed the status window and examined his halberd once more.

"I still have three affinities that I need to acquire. Wind, water, and light. On top of that, I need to pick what aspect I'm going to embody with my divinity."

"The real question," Eve said, flying over to hover above his shoulder, "is whether you'll have to take on whatever divinity Hati has. Since you are tied to him as his avatar, you might end up forced into what he has chosen."

"That's possible," Thorn said, "and I'll ask him as soon as I see him. They should be getting to the tower fairly soon, at least within the next week or so. However, I don’t think that’s the way it works.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, a few things that he and the other god beasts have said make me think that it might actually work the other way.”

“You mean that he’ll be impacted by what you choose?”

“Yeah, sort of. I mean, we are linked, but the connection serves to help him maintain his sense of self by using mine as a reflection of sorts. So, if I embrace a specific aspect, wouldn’t that then reflect back on him?”

“Sure, but why wouldn’t that work both ways?” Eve asked.

An amused expression flitted across Thorn’s face as he just looked at her until she remembered who she was talking to.

“Ah, right,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “Eternal Will and that insane immunity to mental pressure.”

“Somehow I don’t think my mind will change much, no matter how close our connection,” Thorn said, “but I’ll talk to him about it when we meet up. Until then, I have some more things to create. Now that we've nailed this recipe, I'd like to make some armor, both for me and the others. We'll be casting the pieces once again, so it would be good to get a sense of what everyone wants.”

“Who are you thinking of taking with you?"

"Well, it'll be me, Velin, Mina, Corvo, Alph, Akira, and maybe Stello if he shows up in time," Thorn said.

"No Sparky?"

"No," Thorn replied, "at least not initially. Somehow, I doubt walking into the Temple of Man with a bunch of god beasts is a good idea, and though Sparky's exceptional at hiding who he is, I don't fancy putting that to the test against the god hunters."

"Fair point," Eve said. "Do you want me to gather them here?"

"Yeah, tell them to wander over while I get started on my armor. We can take measurements at their convenience."

"I mean, if you want measurements, I can just get them for you," Eve said. "All of them have an Eve system active, and it won't be hard to scan that information."

"I know," Thorn said, "but I'd like to talk to them as well about how they'd like to fight. Additionally, I need to figure out how I'm going to incorporate Corvo's transformations into his armor."

A few hours later, as Thorn was just beginning to work on the mold for his own armor, he felt a number of people enter the Great Forge, and he put down the mold he was building. With a step, he appeared at the entrance to the Great Forge, where Mina, Corvo, Velin, and Alph were all standing, looking around.

"This place feels more alive every time I see it," Corvo said, his eyes glittering purple as he scanned over the runes and carvings that covered the walls.

"I think it has something to do with using the Great Forge, to be honest," Thorn said as he walked over. "How's everyone doing?"

"Good. It's been nice to relax for a couple of days after the last few months," Mina replied. "I've gotten a chance to work on some of my spell research, which has been a nice way to unwind."

"I think I might have figured out the problem with that teleportation potion," Alph said, "though I might have also inadvertently added a few more in the process. I'm not sure yet, still need more testing. What about you? What have you been working on?"

Grinning like a kid about to show someone his favorite rock, Thorn snapped his fingers, and the Arcane Immortal's Halberd appeared in his hand. "This is what I've been working on," he said.

Staring at the gleaming black metal, Corvo let out a low whistle. "Wow, that's really impressive," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen a more powerful weapon in my life. With the exception of that spear you had back in Angoril, of course, but this is like next level. Is that made from your staff?"

"Yes," Thorn said, rolling the handle in his fingers, causing light to dance off of the spinning blade. "I used my staff as the base, and transformed it into a halberd. I use this weapon pretty much all of the time, and so I figured I might as well have something that did double duty."

"Makes sense to me," Mina said, reaching out to touch it. "How heavy is it?"

"Uh, pretty heavy," Thorn replied.

"I was gonna say, it looks like it has some sort of mana-induced weight added."

Surprised that Mina had been able to see it, Thorn nodded.

"Yeah, somehow it has extra weight when I'm not holding it."

After everyone was done admiring his weapon, Thorn put it away and led them into the Great Forge, taking them up onto the platform where he had been working before.

"Thank you all for coming. I'm hoping to make some suits of armor, and maybe some extra weapons as well, before we head to the puzzle. And I'm wondering what sort of things you want. Corvo, I know we need to be able to accommodate your transformation. Velin, you as well. Alph, I'd love to hear what sort of armor you might find helpful, or if there's something else that I can make for you. And Mina, same. I know you use a wand and a dagger, and because they're soul-bound, I don't know how much leeway they have to be improved. Plus, I'm not sure how your split soul works. And if you'll need two suits of armor, or if one will be just fine. Now, who wants to start?"

For the next few hours, the team talked over their new gear, trying to ensure that they all had adequate protection, while not hampering their various roles. Velin ultimately decided on a suit of armor that was exactly the same as the bark armor that she wore in her war form, while Mina decided on a simple battle dress. Corvo's armor was much lighter, consisting of small plates sewn into his clothing, allowing him to maintain his mobility, while Alph, who didn't think he needed any armor at all, was finally convinced to try a set of scale mail that he could wear under his robe.

"Don't worry," Thorn said. "I'll make sure it has plenty of pockets."