Art and Form

"Is this really what you want to be doing now?" Nayra asked, trying to hide her frustration. The conversation with the two Grand Spirits didn't go far after they dropped the name that they had no frame of reference for. She doubted that they even realized that Nayra and Ryun had recognized it. Instead Ryun had asked for a few days to think about their offer and they had returned to the war camp.

"We came to find power, did we not?" Ryun answered. "I am very much interested in how spirit smiths work their art."

Nayra sighed, she wasn't quite sure what she was doing here. Her plan had been to head to the Afterlife, to seek power and understanding of her Aspect there. Instead, she ended up following Ryun around. True, he did need her, his sense was incredibly limited in the Ethereal and he needed her hand while he figured out how to overcome that weakness. But, she was also somewhat impatient. Her father had died, and she felt the seething anger inside of her at the one who had taken him from her. It was growing with every passing day, as she kept trying to keep it from spilling out and turning into anger at the world itself.

"And what about, you know, the thing?" She pressed him.

Ryun shrugged. "War is yet to talk with us, I'll hear her offer first."

Nayra opened her mouth, then closed it. She couldn't be talking openly about the two Grand Spirits or what they told them. True, she didn't swear an oath, but Ryun had and he was still her Sect Head, his word was her word, she wouldn't break it.

"You are not concerned at all about this army coming through to the Real Realm?" Nayra asked.

Ryun glanced at her, then away. "What are armies before you and me?"

Nayra couldn't really find anything to say to that. Even if she tried to be modest, in the end she knew the truth. The two of them were made to demolish armies, especially when they fought together. Why would they care if this Grand Spirit wanted to remain in the Real Realm? The world was Infinite, there was room. And if they turned out to become a threat, well, there were few that could rival them in strength in the world. The yeti probably being the prime amongst them, and that was only because he was alone, with no army to support him. And because he was an insane shade that was older than the Infinite Realm, of course.

They reached the smiths tents and were quickly noticed by the smith spirit nearby. Nayra focused on its stocky seven limbed body, trying to see if it was the same one as they had talked with before, but ultimately gave up. She couldn't discern between the spirits at all.

"Ah, new friends, you are back! Good, good, the clan master is free for a meeting," the spirit said.

"Eager Smith," Ryun greeted and bowed his head.

Nayra took a deep breath and followed. Smithing really wasn't her favorite thing to do, but she would endure.

Bright Star rose in Ryun's hand, Qi burning through his body, his {Mantle of Gathering Twilight} accumulating Qi into his arm and increasing his strength and dexterity. He was so focused on the piece of metal held on the anvil by his {Avatar of the Twilight Reaper} that for a moment he forgot everything else. Not just his mind, but his soul as well. For a split moment, the intent of his soul, the unconscious part that held his entire being in the form he usually inhabited, slipped. His right arm, bulged and the Essence that pretended to look like skin burst to reveal Oblivion beneath. His hand turned into a limb made of complete darkness with flashes of violet and silver throughout. He could feel his regeneration working, keeping his body whole as every movement threatened to tear him to pieces, his skill enhancing the effect. He didn't let his attention go to it, though it was hard. He could feel the cracks spreading in his skin further, traveling over his shoulder and neck, over the side of his face.

Instead, he finished his task. He brought his hammer down, his |Essence Manipulation| and |Smithing Mastery| skills singing in his mind as he did so. Air ignited around him from the speed of his arm, the Oblivion of his Aura consuming it before it could spread. The {Field of Twilight's Calm} around him shuddered as it stopped the spread of the shockwaves from the sound barrier breaking apart.

Bright Star hit the metal and transferred all the force he could muster onto the target held with the pliers firmly in the hands of his Avatar, and because Bright Star was connected to his soul, carrying with it Ryun's will and intent as well. The strike hit with enough force to sunder earth, if his Avatar and Bright Star's anvil weren't there. Instead, all the force focused into the metal.

For a moment there was silence, and then the metal bent, collapsing in on itself as it was being pressed by the force of the strike pushing in on it from all sides, and perhaps more importantly, Ryun's and Bright Star's will.

For a moment Ryun was surprised to feel how much easier it was here, in the Ethereal Realm, yet it did make sense to him. This was the Realm that reacted to intent and will more than any other. The metal that had been the size of a person shrunk as it was pressed in on itself, shaped with his will and skill, until it took the form he intended it to.

The world calmed, and the metal took the rough shape of a spearhead, the size of Ryun's palm. He used his skill and Aura to shape it further, to shear away and smooth its surfaces until it was a perfectly shaped piece. With Oblivion he sharpened the edges to perfection, creating a thin line of Essence that would cut through anything. Already he could see Sharpness Essence coming into being around it from just the act of him creating the edge. He switched focus and used |Essence Manipulation| on the new Essence, pushing it closer to the edge, narrowing it and forcing the Sharpness into it, imparting on it intent to cut better, to split all in its way.

He was lost in his work, unaware of the passage of time, or anything beyond his small sphere of influence. And then he was done, and reality came roaring back. He flexed his arm and Essence around it bent, the Oblivion receding and returning to the shape and appearance of an ordinary arm as the meaning of his Soul exerted its influence.

He became aware of spirits spectating from a safe distance, some of them keeping the effects of his work from impacting the environment. Nayra stood nearby, keeping the heat from escaping.

A big spirit with seven limbs and body made out of fluid metal walked up.

"That was impressive, and very strange," the clan master said.

Ryun inclined his head. "Thank you, Great Artist Who Shapes Life With Metal."

The clan master's name, in the chosen way of thinking about such things at least, was a bit of a handful.

"I see that you have a much different way of going about creation," the spirit said as Ryun offered the spearhead. It took it in one of its hands and turned it over. Ryun was surprised that it could hold it in one hand. The spearhead was small, but it held much greater mass, if it was dropped on the ground it would've probably dented it. He had compressed it with his will and pure physical power. It was something that he had been experimenting with as a way of covering up some of his weaknesses. Ryun lacked many of the finer and more delicate skills that a smiths usually had. But he had his strengths as well, in this case literally. He was yet to push himself to the limit, but in the perfect conditions his stats could get to really monstrous size. He wondered if perhaps he could compress a mountain to the size of a weapon, and if he could, what it would even look like? He stored the thought away for later, that was something that he was going to try someday.

"Your way is that of force," the clan master said as he studied Ryun's work. "Overwhelmingly so, I do not know a smith of our kind that could do the same."

It was high praise, especially from someone like the spirit. The spearhead was not yet part of a weapon, but its qualities could be seen. It didn't give any stats, that part was usually enchanted into a handle of a weapon. But what it did do was amplify the force of any strike by 10x, it also had a great increase to penetration.

"Now, it is time for me to demonstrate my art," the clan master said as he passed the spearhead back to him. "As I have pledged."

Ryun inclined his head, that was the deal they had made. A demonstration for a demonstration.

Spirits gathered around the forge and the clan master and prepared to do their work, while Ryun walked over to Nayra to watch. What followed was more of a choreographed dance than it was what Ryun did when he worked.

The clan master and the other spirits began to work on the metal that had been brought from another tent. An exotic metal material that had bluish Essence to Ryun's eyes that was very densely packed with the Essence grains. They heated it up to its melting point, then poured it into a mold. Spirits of cold moved over it, cooling it down enough so that it could be worked. A spirit picked it up and brought it over to the anvil where the clan master waited. Then, it started its work. Seven hands changed shape into various tools, hammers came down in quick succession that seemed almost unending. The blows a lot gentler than Ryun's, but still packed with the intent of what the finished product had to be. Ryun could tell that even that intent was a lot softer than what he did. It wasn't as if it ordered the purpose of the Essence, but more like it convinced the Essence to change, to become something else. The Essence flowed, flickering in his sight as it transformed. It intrigued Ryun. Then, when it started taking shape, it pulled out a piece of its own body, just a tiny sliver, and mixed it with the item being worked on. Reflections of lights danced off its surface with each movement, creating a beautiful display that could be seen even by Ryun eyes, though perhaps not in all of its glory.

It was similar to what Ryun did when he created a spiritual tool. Ryun gave a piece of his soul and meaning to create it, and the spirit here gave a part of its body in order to do the same. He knew that what it gave was not the same as a soul, obviously, as then the result would've been a spiritual tool. Yet there was something else that the spirit did in giving part of its body away, something that translated to greater quality in the work.

Ryun continued to watch, thinking about ways that he could incorporate what he was seeing into his own work. Wondering how it would change it, if at all.

Ryun knew he still had much left to learn before he would get anywhere close to what he was seeing; What the spirit was doing was a carefully practiced art form, Ryun was a lot more brutish in his work. That knowledge made him smile because there was something comforting in knowing you will never run out things worth discovering about your craft.

Once the work was finished, the spirit picked up the spearhead and walked over, offering it to Ryun.

He inclined his head as he took what was offered, then he inspected it. The difference was clear immediately. The spearhead was lighter, and perhaps even weaker than Ryun's. It wasn't as compressed as Ryun's work had been, so there was no bonus to force of attacks, what it did have was a larger bonus to penetration and bleeding. That made Ryun frown, he was pretty sure that he had made the edge as perfect as it could be. True, his work was cruder, but this one shouldn't be able to achieve what he could perfectly carve out with Oblivion. Yet somehow it did. He had an idea how, but he would need to do some tests.

"Thank you for the demonstration," Ryun said, he had still learned much.

"It was agreed," the clan master said.

He wished that they could do more, but the spirit had a busy schedule, it was supplying the army, and creating more spirits. So, Ryun bowed and then gathered Nayra, leaving the smiths to their work.

"Was that worth me standing around for a day and doing nothing?" Nayra asked.

Ryun raised his eyes from the spearheads still in his hands. He was comparing the two.

"Very much so," Ryun said.

"Really?"

"Yes," Ryun said, just looking at the two pieces side by side he could see where he could improve. "What kind of a tool do you want?" He asked.

Nayra blinked at the change of topic, she frowned, not answering immediately.

"I already have Resav, as a weapon," she said slowly.

"So armor?"

"My way of fighting might not be conducive to that," Nayra answered. "Unless you can make it turn to mist with me."

Ryun chuckled, and then paused. He had just seen the spirit smith somehow ask the Essence to change, to become something else. The spearhead in his hand had a core of metal Essence, some material that he wasn't familiar with, but the edges were something else. Almost as if they were a blend of pure Sharpness Essence and the Metal. In his eyes, they were solid, indomitable and refusing to change. As if the world itself had decreed that the Essence was going to be what it now was. As if it was completely natural. Could he do the same? Force the Essence to change its nature when needed, turn to mist or fire?

"I'll need to think about that," Ryun said after a while.

Nayra was about to answer, when they were interrupted by a a tall spirit that looked like a suit of armor.

"Guests," it greeted them. "The Grand Spirit of War wishes to speak."

Ryun and Nayra exchanged a look, and then they followed. He was looking forward to hearing what War had to say.