EDGE OF IMMORTALITY (II)

It was breathtaking, akin to nothing he had ever seen before in his life. Fascinating beyond measure, watching the droplets making up the fabric of reality interact with one another under pressure. Some adjoined, some repelled, some compounded into larger ones… it was an entirely new world, seemingly far removed from the reality of the one within which Eggor was casting a blade.

Billions… no, trillions, perhaps even more, parts and pieces danced to the eternal symphony of life. Colors otherwise nowhere found clasped unto each other, fabricating realms of hue that nothing could replicate. Despite the fact that he knew better, at that moment, Lino could swear they were all alive – all individual bits and pieces lived, existed, desired.

He drove further, closer, with his Divine Sense, penetrating the barriers of reality. Though it was painful and beyond draining on his Qi and Vitality, he endured. It invoked the sort of feeling that was difficult to put into words, the ilk of inspired beauty, yet even layers beyond it. They weaved the tapestry of inception, the provenance of life, in ways that he had never seen before.

They were unbound by laws, at least the ones he knew. At the times, he spotted the same 'dot' in various positions, or them dancing around at speeds breaking any convention. Even with his Divine Sense he was only able to get the general sense of it all and was unable to actually perceive it all in real-time.

However, even what little he could see gave him far more answers to how reality itself functioned beyond the veiled tales of intent; for instance, when Eggor dropped a few drops of extracted [Filmeh Herb] into the mixture of several metals that the blade was to be made out of, on the surface all he saw was the few droplets immediately vaporize into thin air, as though they weren't even there.

Lino, however, saw them being ripped apart by the forces, their bits and pieces dragged away and bound to the makings of the blade. He had always known that, in general principle, most of the binding and supportive agents, especially specific herbs, do empower the metals in the mixture somehow, but he now knew exactly how – they, literally, get eaten up, and become part of the larger structure, creating something new out of the already existing.

"—fascinating," he mumbled, pulling away as Eggor came to a stop, taking a short respite. "It's really… fascinating…"

"What is?" Eggor asked through quickened breaths.

"—the way it all works," Lino replied. "I think… I think I know, at least in general, how could sentience spontaneously happen inside an item."

"Oh? Do share, then." Eggor said, taking out a gourd of ale.

"—it's mostly as we suspected," Lino said, sitting down as Primul joined them. "A specific reaction inside the item itself occurs, but the sentience itself is, I think, the result of the rapidly accelerated time."

"Hm?" Eggor and Primul frowned for a moment, leaning in closer to listen as even Vy joined them on the side.

"The pressure at that level, and energy in accordance to the size is… insane," Lino said. "This causes the time itself to go all out of whack at certain points. I imagine that the item gaining sentience isn't exactly that – it's more akin to a baby being born, but then growing up five-six years really quickly."

"—that still doesn't tell us how exactly the sentience itself happens, however," Primul said after a short silence. "Just how it evolves."

"No, no it doesn't," Lino nodded, frowning. "We'd be shooting blind if we were to actually start guessing, as we're talking literally – and I do mean literally – an infinite amount of possibilities. One factor, however, that might play the role is the use of organic materials."

"… herbs?"

"Not necessarily just herbs," Lino turned toward Eggor. "But, yeah, generally speaking, herbs. They've the systems of life but lack the visible sentience of animals. They have the instinct of self-preservation, but lack the capacity of conscious 'thought'. Their usage may increase the possibility of a Soul Item by simply making the exact circ.u.mstance more likely to happen."

"… so, not any closer, huh?" Eggor mumbled.

"We've just begun," Lino chuckled faintly. "If it were that easy, do you really think someone wouldn't have discovered it before? I'm sure we're not the first to think 'gosh, these Soul Items sure are amazing. What if, and get this, we could produce them, like, you know, at will'."

"Oh, shut it," Eggor rolled his eyes, getting up. "Let's get back at it. You keep up your 'research' or whatever the h.e.l.l you're doing while the rest of us actually work."

"Hey, it's okay to be jealous of my Divine Sense, but it's kind of lame to show it, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just shut up and do it…"

Lino cracked a faint smile as Primul and Vy retreated to their corners, leaving Eggor and Lino at the center, surrounded by tables stacked with tools and items, as well as two most important parts – the forge and Vy's anvil.

Lino sat down, cross-legged, once more and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before coating his Divine Sense with his Will and diving deep down once more.

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Days quickly began flying back in silence, the four of them all having long since lost the track of time. Eggor and Lino crafted, Vy processed, and Primul drew. What made the entire process so long was the fact that they couldn't make the entire blade in one go due to the repelling effects of the materials they used, which were impossible to mitigate completely with restricting agents.

Eggor would usually work on a small stretch of the whole blade for upwards of two days before taking a break and beginning the process anew, after which he'd bind the piece to the whole, and the same story would continue. Lino usually helped with the process of binding as it required a lot of Qi, which sped up the process somewhat altogether.

At a ten-day mark, they were only a quarter through the blade, though the process itself was sped up due to the practice the two got, eventually getting another quarter done within barely six days. The other half of the blade would take only eight days to be completed, and the silver-cast, holistic looking blade lay plastered on the anvil, glistening in sharpness.

None grew content, though, as there was still much to be done. While Eggor focused on fas.h.i.+oning the guard and the handle, Lino went over the arrays Primul prepared and slowly began inscribing the less difficult ones, leaving the truly incomprehensible ones – with a thread count in the literal hundreds of thousands – to Eggor.

He worked slowly and methodically, taking frequent breaks as he had to use the Divine Sense to actually tread the bladed metal carefully. Sweat poured down his forehead and back, his mind quickly swirling into a splitting headache as he overworked himself.

What caused him to push himself even further was observing Eggor – the most complex of arrays seemed like childish sketches to him, as he drove his hand around the blade freely, similar to how Lino did it… on a much smaller scale.

"… truly some ways to go." Lino mumbled after Eggor finished drawing up the final array.

"Did you observe it properly?" Eggor asked, snapping his fingers in front of Lino, jolting him. "The way I did the spirals? How to jump the corners without backtracking?"

"Y-yeah, yeah," Lino nodded. "I… I didn't even know it was possible to do it like that."

"Of course you didn't," Eggor shrugged. "I hadn't taught you yet. What? Just because you made some ruckus you thought you were the s.h.i.+t?"

"… nope."

"Just like Cultivation, it's an endless pursuit – you told me that yourself, didn't? That I shouldn't grow content lest you catch up to me. I'm not… so you shouldn't either."

"… this is nostalgic." Lino mumbled, smiling warmly for a moment.

"Hm?" Eggor looked at him.

"You teaching me," he chuckled lightly. "It's… it's been a while."

"… it has." Eggor nodded, coughing lightly. "Sorry. I guess I can do it more often."

"Ha ha ha, it's hardly your fault, though," Lino laughed, slapping Eggor's back lightly. "What, with all the fighting and almost dying, I certainly didn't leave myself enough time to be tutored, no?"

"… ah, speaking of that – you really should ease at it. You'll one day scare us to death, I swear." Eggor sighed. "I know you've got your mission and all, but, you know… do it in a less, I don't know, insane way, maybe?"

"… I can't," Lino shook his head, sighing. "When I first condensed my Will, I swore I'd save some people I thought were in danger no matter what. It's… it's who I always was. If I were the smart sort who thinks about everything and plans accordingly, ah, we'd certainly be better off, now would we?"

"… I'm not saying you shouldn't be who you are," Eggor sighed, putting his hand on Lino's shoulder, grabbing it lightly. "The fact that you jump into anything and everything like an idiot without thinking is, well, what makes you… you. When they attacked the fortress, I guarantee not a single soul in here even for a second thought you wouldn't just f.u.c.k off on your own and take on the biggest threat. We just wish, you know… you'd invite some of us just one time to lift up some of that burden."

"… fine," Lino grinned strangely, causing Eggor to shudder. "The next time I'm about to do something beyond stupid, I'll have you having my back, old man. What do you say?"

"… humph, you ungrateful little b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I should skin you. Humph."

"I don't hear a 'no' in there." Lino's smile mellowed down. "Ha ha, don't worry about it. Come on, let's finish this up. I want my mind blown by the stats."

"All that's left are the finis.h.i.+ng touches," Eggor said, stretching lightly. "Though it won't reach the Origin-tier, I've a good feeling it will at least be Primordial-tier. Young Ally probably won't be able to utilize it to its full potential for a long, long, long time…"

"Well lucky for her she has a big bro who'd be more than happy to alleviate her from that burden…" Lino crackled.

"… f.u.c.k!!" Eggor suddenly connected the dots, screaming out loud. "You don't plan everything my a.s.s!! f.u.c.k, you're the most cunning s.h.i.+t I've met in my life!! I bet you even got your a.s.s beat on purpose!!"

"—oi, oi, stop hitting me old man!! It hurts!" Lino cried out. "I swear I didn't plan it---alright, alright, I planned it, but I swear I just wanted to take it for a test run before giving it to Ally—alright, fine, fine, I wanted to swing it around for a while till Ally comes into her own—oi, seriously, stop hitting me, it's true!!"

"Nothin' out of ya' filthy mouth is true!! I've always known, yet I still somehow let you charm me into thinkin' otherwise! f.u.c.k, no more!! I ain't falling for it!!"

"… these two have completely forgotten we're here, huh?" Primul mumbled, taking a sip of ale.

"Yup, pretty much…" Vy replied, sighing.