Great Work

The shrine was emanating Essence constantly, and the air around them was cold. Of course, that cold was not actually the Essence it created, it was just the effect it had on their surrounding. The Absolute Cold sought to bring everything to a state of no movement, absence of heat or motion. It cooled the air around them, but the cold never really bothered Selia anyway.

They got ready to start, Ryun pulled out his anvil and hammer, and Selia focused on her domain. She didn’t bring it into reality fully, only halfway. Just enough that she could project their design over the anvil, give Ryun a visible blueprint to work off.

He placed a wooden table nearby, then pulled out their materials. A bar of Hallirentom ore, then bottles of refined Essence, Soul, Death, Life, Cold. She still marveled at the fact that Zenker had so much of… everything. She had heard that drakes liked to hoard, but she never really imagined something like that.

He looked over at her.

“You ready?”

Selia nodded. Holding the domain was a strain, but she knew that helping him shape Essence and try to put in their intent into it would be far harder.

Ryun took the small bar of ore, separated it in two, then placed one part of it on the anvil that had stars shining within it. Within moments the metal started to heat up as the Anvil of Stars exerted its influence. Then he slammed the hammer on top of it. The light winked out for a moment, and the stars on the anvil and hammer flashed with light. The bar of metal changed, shaping itself into a circle. Each strike made it thinner, until it was about the size of her open hand. A small round disk, slightly bent, a talisman.

They had thought about a lot of things, armor, weapons, but as they talked about what they wanted it to do they settled on a simple talisman. Well, not simple at all with everything they wanted it to do. With every strike, he tried to prepare the metal, add to it his intent, lay the groundwork for the effects that they wanted. She saw complete concentration in him, unlike any time they had done this before.

She felt it in herself too. They were… in tune. A soft thrum was passing through her head, through their bond, she felt his heartbeat as if it was her own, beating as one. Their thoughts narrowed into a singular purpose, and through their bond she knew exactly what he wanted, and he knew exactly what she did. There were no secrets between them, no barriers, they acted as two halves of a single being. Their perks activated, not of their own volition, yet it was a completely natural thing.

Their auras mixed and narrowed down to just the shrine and their grand work.

She reached out to the refined Essence on the table, first Soul. She pulled it out of its container, then brought it over to the anvil, placing it over the talisman as Ryun brought his hammer down. She poured all her intent into it, the desire for the item to bond with a soul, the ideas that they wanted it to embody, the things that they wanted it to do. He hit it again, doing the same thing, she could almost feel his thoughts, flowing from him the same way they were from her, completely in sync, feeding the Essence in front of them. Intent and thought, their care and will, their spirit combined spirit.

Ryun raised his hammer, and in the same breath Selia moved, their mind as one. She used her inscription tools and carved a simple formation into the Soul Essence enrichened metal. As she finished the hammer came down. It was almost as if they were in a dream, dancing, moving as one being. Something deep inside of her stirred, almost like memories of something from long ago, but then their combined will carried them forward.

He pulled the second part of the metal ore and peeled a layer of metal from it with a tool he pulled out of his storage. He placed the second layer over the first, sealing the part of it that was Soul. She reached over and pulled out the Essence of Cold and brought it over the talisman, Ryun’s Oblivion flashed, a tiny technique, peeling off the shell of the Cold. They didn’t need the elemental part of it, they needed the concept of Cold, the Cold embrace of Death, the Cold before the anticipation of Life, the Cold that came with the Absolute Cold.

They placed the Cold onto the metal, embedding it and separating the talisman into three sections. Selia reached out to Life and Death, and Ryun pulled in the Absolute Cold from around them. They placed the Essence, each in its own section, layering it over the metal, bonding it with strikes of the hammer. They poured their intent into it, giving their thoughts and spirits to their creation. Designating effects that they wanted it to have. Some of them fought them, they were impossible, or simply they weren’t good enough. They adapted, changed as they had discussed, pushed with their combined wills. The Essence of Death settled the easiest—they were after all the Twin Aspects of True Death. Even a transition, was within their domain. Their thoughts were as one. Life followed, what they wanted from it was simple, brute, but simple. The Absolute Cold was an anchor, a conduit, a link to the soul and beyond.

She felt pieces of herself leaving her, her mind, her thoughts, it combined with Ryun’s inside the work, their combined spirituality—their hopes and dreams of what they could create, no, what they would create.

Every couple of strikes, Ryun would pause as Selia reached out with her tools, carving elaborate lines, creating art. The work continued; time seemed to no longer exist in their little world. Half in a domain, and half on top of a mountain, standing in a shrine covered in ice, wind howling around them, and the Aspects of True Death shrouding them.

As one they finished the three sections, and then Ryun pulled Oblivion Qi from his core, a tiny amount, passing through his conduits. She felt him, felt it as if it was passing through her own conduits, what was supposed to be foreign Qi was familiar to her, as if she had always known it. Together they shaped it, like they were cycling, turning Essence into Essence Crystals. They did something that she didn’t quite understand, and a distant part of her knew that they were acting on instinct now, that they had become… inspired.

In a moment she saw both of their souls, she saw their connection with their bodies, and something passed through it, a tiny sliver from them both. As Ryun’s Qi left his body her sliver attached itself to Ryun’s that was already there. It was not a crystal, Oblivion had no shell, but it had form, a small round disk, smaller than the talisman, like a hole in reality. They lowered it into the talisman, in the exact center, and as her will held it there Ryun’s hammer came down.

Her carvings filled with silver and violet light, lines spreading from the hole in reality that was in the center of the piece, giving it a beauty that she alone couldn’t have created. The stood there for a moment, just looking at the piece with their combined senses. She saw it through Ryun’s eyes, and he saw it through hers, she sensed it with his skills and he with hers.

For an eternity, there was only one. And then their connection broke, and they were two again. Her domain sputtered and died, and her breath went out of her lungs. Exhaustion hit it, and before she could reflect on anything, darkness claimed her.

Ryun

He felt them become two again, and sorrow washed over him at the loss of what they had been. To be so close to someone else, to know all parts of them and just… be. But then he sensed Selia falling, and he moved without thinking, he caught her in his arms, concerned for a moment before sensing her breathing, sensing the exhaustion in her muscles and body. He closed his eyes, he felt exhausted too, even though he shouldn’t be able to be. His head was killing him, and he felt weariness in… in his soul.

He knew that they had touched on something more there, an inspiration, or at least glimpse at it. But reflection was for later. He glanced at the talisman on the anvil, glowing with faint silver and violet light, with a core of such darkness that it swallowed the light. He reached over and picked it up, then raised Selia in his arms and walked back to the forge.

He didn’t know how long they had spent working, but he sat down on the floor leaned on the wall. Selia was still in his arms, sleeping with her back against his chest and her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and just… relaxed. The bond between them felt deeper somehow, he could almost see her dreams behind his closed eyes. He had glanced at his Eternal Hunter perk, it had improved, again. They would need to test it out later, because he was certain that hers was the same. If they could touch what they had done again…

He had even gotten a new title, Smith of Advancement, Selia probably did too. Not the First, though, the smith had been the one to gain that one.

He glanced at the talisman that was on the floor next to him. He wouldn’t have been able to do it alone, and now… he knew that they wouldn’t be able to do it again for a long time. They had given something of themselves to it, a price to create it, and he did not think that they could handle another anytime soon.

The doors opened and someone entered. It was a point to his exhaustion that he hadn’t noticed, even with his sense spreading. His mind was frazzled, he hadn’t been paying attention. But now, he raised his head and saw Erdania standing at the entrance to the forge.

She saw them on the floor, and her eyes widened and her mouth opened in an oh shape.

“She is… tired,” Ryun said, and nearly stumbled over his words. He was far worse off than he initially thought.

Erdania’s expression turned soft, and she walked over to them, kneeling next to them. She reached over and moved an errant lock of Selia’s hair from her face to behind her ear with a gentle smile on her face. Then, she sat down, leaning against both of them.

“Did you do it?” She whispered.

Ryun grabbed the talisman from his other side and then offered it to her. She took it and looked at it for a long minute. Then, finally, she offered it back.

“That’s… impressive, and it is beautiful too. I can see her touches,” Erdania whispered as he took it from her. “What are you going to name it?” she added.

Ryun looked at for a long moment. Perhaps Selia should’ve had some input into it, but Ryun felt like she would probably leave it to him. The talisman was in a way an inheritance from the smith whose memories Ryun had experienced. It was still not what the smith wanted, an item that could grow, but it was a step. After a few minutes of thinking he made a decision.

Spiritual Tool — Inheritance of Death’s Embrace

Requirements: Cultivator; Immortal Realm; Absolute Cold Aspect; Glimpse of Aspect;

Trait: Soulbound; Bodybound;

Stats: +10 to all base stats; +200 to all stats

Effects: The Talisman will activate when the one bound with it is near death, keeping them alive at death’s door and preventing their soul from leaving the body for 30 seconds. After the time runs out the Talisman will rapidly heal the bound to full. The Talisman can be used as a focus for Absolute Cold Essence, increasing its effectiveness by 20%. The Talisman can be activated manually to bring the user from full health to near death instantly.

Cost: Soul strain when used. Cooldown until the soul and Life Essence reserves are restored to full.

Yes, that fit with it nicely. He hoped that Kri was going to like it. And that Anrosh doesn’t kill him when he gives it to her.