Black Magus

Wilson Koorb.

***

The last month of the War Phase was different for everyone, yet everyone did the same thing. Leary laid waste to the vast expanse on our eastern end and became the scourge of the Bugdilk Dominion. Then, he continued due east and entered the Grand Duchy of Pyreaz to test his strength against the technologically advanced orcs. Reina ventured undetected past both the Bugdilk Dominion and the tech goblins of the Grand Duchy of Kas to enter the inland sea of the Oim Kingdom. She found a small island and made it more inhabitable than it was, then spread that pestilence to the lands and sea around her.

Rickley mostly went around terrorizing people with music. Although occasionally she'd allow herself to be 'defeated' and 'captured' by the enemy. The dwarves would often place her on a pyre to burn at the stake. Orcs would put her on a rotisserie and lather her up with oils and spices. Goblins would just attempt to butcher her on the spot. The humans would take what they could, realizing it would be moot to torture or interrogate her. In all cases, Rickley would wait until the most opportune time to slaughter them all and steal their treasures.

I doubted even Iris was privy to the things Etan did. We never saw his operations. He never spoke about them and we didn't ask. We only saw the results. Mostly. At first, problems would surface and subsequently disappear. In time, problems just… stopped coming, yet his library kept growing.

Freki burned everything to ash and melted the rest to slag, becoming a walking natural disaster. Geri froze everything in sight and took the most valuable things she could find. Blude conquered the northern and southern seas. Iris reverse-engineered technology from our enemies to keep us connected, equipped, and updated with information; yet still took the time to wreak havoc on our neighbors. And Amun… Amun just watched.

He was here the entire time. In spirit, he was always with us- every Eomen and Legionnaire. Whether they had the wisdom to discern him was another story, but of course, we could see him. He'd often be a few ways away, gazing at something intently; or we'd hear him snickering behind us while we were talking. Yet, he was occasionally with us in the flesh, always hidden so the enemy wouldn't react to his presence. With the changing of the seasons, though, his spiritual essence disappeared entirely. Replacing it was Iris' recall to Delphilios Court. That was it. No other information was provided, but we knew what was what. Our slain enemies had resurrected. Despite our enemy's restocked numbers, however, they seemed to prefer cursing my name while they cleared their lands of deathly fumes instead of attacking me as I passed. That could only mean one thing. The War Phase was over.

Within half an hour, everyone was scattered around the domed complex of wheel yards and hangars; and all of us stared greedily at the mountains of materials, equipment, and vessels piled around the place. Even Amun. But of course, he had something to say.

"Congratulations! The War Phase is over. And with its end comes our closing lesson." He raised his finger, smiling at the look of dreaded excitement present on all our faces. "My position in combat will vary depending on the strength of our opponents and the situation in question- the realm we're in, their technological and magical levels, and whatever local goals we have in mind. Essentially, the stronger ones who make it past the undead fodder will be your responsibility while I play the role of the Mastermind. Specifically, the Masterful Tactician. My perks will allow me to Assist you from afar in bountiful ways and deal extra damage to attacks made to unaware targets." He teasingly raised his brows.

"Those who preoccupy or even make it past you…" he paused, tossing his head around in contemplation before shrugging carelessly. "I'll probably wind up using one of my toys. But if not!" He grinned at us after his short ramble and wagged his finger. "Only then will I fight as a monk. That is not only because it's no fun to fight the weak, but because my blood can and will change the surrounding realms without my control, as we saw below. But I digress."

Casually waving the serious matter aside as he often did, he began pacing. "The War Phase is over. Normally, recruits would continue onto the Magic and Martial Training and Battle Drill phases. Since you've done those things prior to your arrival, these phases will be of Creation and Exploration. Now, first things first."

With a wave of his hand, I felt a surge of fire and ice; acid and hot oil- power cascade into my moderately sized frame. Not power gifted from him - at least not in this instance. It was the power we developed prior to our coming here. Our sorcerous and warlock abilities, our newfound magical affinities, and more.

"Ahh. It's good to be back. Eh, Willy?" The voice echoed in my mind in a way that seemed to spawn my long-lost finger. Flexing it, hearing those words and more, seeing the holographic projections of NoxNet in my vision made me realize how much I missed them all over the last few months.

However… 'Never call me that again, Bom.'

Both the Book of Madness and Amun snickered. Seemingly for different reasons. But perhaps not.

"I assume you've theorized many spells for your affinities throughout your time at war," Amun continued. "War is the mother of all inventions, after all. But I hope magic isn't the extent of your designs, for we have weapons, we have undead, and we have Umas in need of upgrading and tailoring to our abilities. So, after we get these crystals primed, how about we do a brief show and tell?"

We all ran forward like the little children we were. Hours. Days. We cared not how long we spent priming enchantments; comparing the materials, components, and tools native to our woven worlds; redesigning our equipment in various corners of the court and showcasing our results across the net.

The hardest working among us during that time was one of Iris' companions. Of course, we all worked hard to upgrade our and eventually the Legions and the Empire's lineup of equipment. Kai, however, had to prime the most enchantments, infuse the most Arcanites, and design the most things to work with her truly revolutionary affinity for Size Magic.

Leading by example, Amun was the first to upgrade his many fantastic things. Even though we could have witnessed the process from afar using the Net, many of us took a brief break to see it in person, for there was at least one item out of the six that none of us had laid eyes on before. The first two were his newer creations. The legendary weapons he created shortly after his debut as a Grandmaster Artificer. While the Zodiac Crossbow put him one step further down the path of the Grandmaster Artificer, the Gamma Net was the only legendary weapon in his arsenal. At least, that was my opinion, for it was so powerful, Amun could hardly use it on the Mortal Plane.

That bore the need for him to grasp the tool of destruction in hand and pour his divine energy through the conduits spread across his body, blessing it with the deep blue essence of the ArcaTech to give it the gift of creation.

Despite the legends spreading from Shujen, the Zeus Pillars were not considered legendary weapons. At least not until the three-sectioned staff was Upgraded with a size enchantment to allow the thing to be worn as an earring, then blessed with the essence of the World Weaver to give the tungsten pellets it ejected the ability to weave worlds, spread seas, temper storms, and more. After renaming his prized weapon the Arms of Atlas, he showed us the gear he received as a young Marulean royal, starting with the robes he was often seen wearing. Rather than enchant them or infuse them with anything new, however, he activated his perks and coupled them with the latent energies of his divine realm to Replicate them; even the magical ones. Yet, even then, the copies were hardly enchanted or infused with anything new.

His robe's design was changed to have the same quilted pattern as his official guild wear. Otherwise, it was Upgraded with the same Biogold, Screening Silver, and Noxweave present in everyone else's uniforms. He did, however, bless the garb with the ArcaTech's essence to make the gear modular; capable of shifting to fit any environment. And he fashioned a pair of sunglasses, enchanted with the same FleshTech device Zaraxus used to discard and reform his flesh. Then came the most impressive weapon in my eyes.

The Shadowsteel Reaper had to be someone's magnum opus. It was a pristine slashing spear made from stone-mammoth ivory and wood from the Necro King's divine tree, fashioned with an adamantine blade wrapped in a collar of gold-dusted night ave quills. The hilt was mechanical, allowing it to bend like a reaper's scythe when infused with the Nox's necromancy.

Like the Arms of Atlas, the true Reaper was given a size enchantment so it could be worn as an earring while its replica was fabricated with Arcanites fueled with Gravity and the Dark and Death variants of Electromagnetic and Space-Time magics, infused into the haft, blade, pommel, and collar at the molecular level. Thus turning a powerful weapon into a natural receiver and transmitter, as well as a powerful electromagnet, a necrotic lightning bolt in spear form.

A blessing from the Owl and some increased capabilities via some ArcaTech essence evolved the replica into the Nebulous Reaper. But the favorite weapon of Iris, Reina, Rickley, Leary, and even Etan was what became of the Shade Splitters' replica. The originals were made from the same material as the Shadowsteel Reaper, minus the divine tree wood, while its replica was the opposite, given we possessed no stone mammoth ivory. Regardless, they were reconstructed with Arcanites like the Nebulous Reaper. Those Arcanites contained many more affinities, however. Iris' Molecular and Mana affinities; Reina's Life and Flesh; the Bone affinity of his father; my Chemical affinity; Amun's Darkness, Death, Space-Time, Electromagnetic, and even Nuclear affinities; then, blessed by the Eternal Champion, the blades became the Soul Splitters.

Instead of vitality, the enchantments were redesigned to absorb mana from those whose flesh it carved, and so too could it absorb the molecules of whatever inorganic materials it cut into. Both were stockpiled within the handles, as was the soul of whosoever died by their blades, giving Amun the freedom to send them to his paradise or pit. As for the body, that was free to be carved into whatever Amun wished it to be. An Undying Machine or just an undead or a machine. A Fiendish Fae or just a fiend, perhaps even a Fae. Paragons, imbued with fresh life. A new being entirely. Whatever Amun decided, the Soul Splitters would take or make. All it took was a cut.

Great though each of these legendary items were, the last item was the one Amun was the most excited for, as it was the one thing he was both forced to have and could not use - a hulking set of armor built undoubtedly for a paladin. In his words, it was meant to babysit the development of his necrotic strength. Yet he never liked the armor and thus didn't wear it. He couldn't wear it once he devoted himself to becoming a monk, but it was tied to his soul all the same. To complicate matters, he couldn't and wouldn't sever it from his soul; for it was a family heirloom.

What he could do, however, was what he did before and Replicate the armor, then Upgrade the replication into proper power armor with Deathly and Dark Electromagnetism coupled with Spatial mana infused into its mithral. He redesigned the gauntlets with Dimensionite before blessing the entire thing with both his Engineering and Mana domains; one to connect it to our tech and infrastructure and the other to corrupt and evolve whoever would be chosen to become the Abyssal Hulk into a paragon of their kind.

It was no surprise that the Tech Goddess completed her upgrades just minutes after Amun completed his demonstration. I was already back in my hangar, but I heard and saw it appear through the Net as a deep warbling sound accompanied a small vortex of blue mana- her warp magic. What it warped to her was an oversized parasol, of all things. It was heavy and overbearing, standing a head taller than her when planted in the ground, with no canvas to speak of; for having canvas would only cause Gamp Daedalus to oscillate uncontrollably when she put the inline rotor into action.

Actuators small and large were riddled throughout the folding mechanisms, which had been fashioned with blades to permit her flight at the cost of an atrociously loud thumping noise. It was essentially a stick with eight actuating arms that collectively wanted to be a parasol, but their wielder kept forcing them to operate independently or sometimes come together as an oddly shaped spear or perhaps a lance. After infusing it with her magical abilities and the affinities of several throughout the Empire, it was much the same. Albeit slimmer and much quieter- silent whilst in flight.

Mithral ball bearings were infused with her Rotational Magic, then soaked in Porous Lube to replace the rotor. An enchantment of sound didn't render the chopping noise of the spinning blades mute, it only reduced the distance the sound traveled to a few meters. The infusion of her Molecular Magic into the blades let her reform them into hooks or clubs or whatever else she could imagine. And of course, the infusion of Kai's Size Magic allowed the Gamp to be worn like an earring, just like Amun's spear and 3-sectioned staff.

The true beauty, however, was the weapon she made from scratch. Demowood was a semi-sentient hardwood that could 'eat' materials. Metals, ceramics, and even organics could be absorbed by the grains and integrated into the structure to increase their functionality. A support beam could 'eat' some metals and glass to create a light for itself. Or a stick could do the same with some string to become a bow. Such was the case when Iris took a fleet of Arcanites and a stick of Demowood to infuse her tiara with all of her magical and sorcerous abilities. Initially, only her molecular magic and Technomancy noticeably influenced the materials. As it normally would have, the stick ate some Dimensionite, Biogold, Attosilk, and several augmented leathers, ceramics, and fibers from her world before she allowed it to 'consume' her tiara.

Unlike it normally would, the change came instantly.

The same warbling blue mana saw it disappear and reform on Iris' head. Then it warbled again, warping to her palm as an elaborate compound bow with magical features segregated into different parts - the sight with her Warp Magic to give her arrows an indefinite range; the bow with Mana and Necromancy to infuse them with any power; the bowstring with Molecular Magic and Technomancy to fabricate arrows with each draw. She called it Apollo's Rein. An action that gave birth to a naming convention across the Troupe that made Amun quite vexed, much to our amusement.

Blude completed her equipment shortly after. She and the other matriarchs of the Mafia had tridents and daggers made of aluminum bronze- a biostatic material resistant to the corrosion of seawater and their favorite metal. All the Mafia's equipment was almost exclusively made of the stuff infused with their divine and arcane magics. Their hilts were wrapped in the kelp of their matriarch just as their blades were sheathed in her coral. The three prongs of each of their tridents held their sorcerously divine water, steam, and ice; enabling them, above all, to behave like liquid and reform as Dimensionite would.

Into an elaborate headdress, Blude shaped her trident and declared it to be the Crown of Orcus. A flowing necktie of pale gold and blue-green, she formed from her dagger and named it the Scale of Hades. Into bracelets of coral gems and silky metal, she made her spiked knuckle dusters and called them Pluto's Mitts, turning them into coral-spiked gloves that were pulled on as her bracelets came off.

Sam was the first to have her gear infused with the magic of another. But it was not her trident. The Diadem of Dis Pater was infused with all of her abilities, turning it into a metallic chef's hat that could vent both divine and regular steam without end. It was her divine knives and other weapon that were infused with other magics. She had a full set of fighting needles and shards infused with her powers plus Warp and Spatial mana to give her control and assurance once they- the Bolts of Taranis were inevitably thrown; enabling her to put them back in their place within her bracelets. Her chosen weapon, however, was the Helve of Soranus. A Demowood handle-turned necktie, capped in their divine aluminum bronze secured in place with a Dimensionite ring, allowing it to shift into any cooking implement or weapon she pleased. Which, in her case, was the same thing.

Redd followed Sam's lead. Although to a much lesser extent. Her trident, Poseidon's Crest, was infused with her current mana and Iris' Technomancy to give the metallic hood the weapon reformed into a means of propulsion. Ullr's Grip, her harpoon gun, on the other hand, was imbued with Dimensionite, both her affinities, and Iris' Molecular mana and Technomancy to give her the means to fabricate ammunition and store the weapon as a necktie. Meanwhile, her Neptunian Net was made from Attosilk, Dimensionite, and aluminum bronze, enabling it to stretch, move autonomously, and form a flowing cape when not in use.

Sadly, though, that was the extent of anything marvelous. Due in no small part to me. I had Bom. My middle finger was my wand, and my adamantine skeleton was blessed by the ArcaTech to be free of the metal's ferromagnetic properties. To top it off, a hand crossbow, a shield, and a blade existed within my skeletal forearm. I needed nothing more.

Geri needed nothing more than her claws and teeth, paired with a compound bow and a sling attached to the bottom of a spear, infused with her celestial sorcery. As all she wanted was to slice or beat things up close, shoot springtime and winter arrows at things from afar, and launch comets at her targets from even greater distances. Freki needed nothing more than his claws and teeth paired with an adamantine cannonball and a glaive infused with his celestial sorcery coupled with Ed Pascal's Tungsten and Smoke Magic; as all he wanted was to do was rip and tear into everything in sight, decimate whatever didn't fit his grotesque palette, and skewer whatever was too big to bite.

Etan needed nothing more than his body because… well, he was a monk. Yet he made throwing darts, ball bearings, a second hand crossbow, and fighting needles infused with his eclectic power all the same.

Rickley needed nothing more than the instruments on and in her person. Yet she made one more. A technological marvel that held all the sounds of a band and more in a device that fit around her neck. The Eigenharp.

Reina needed nothing more than the Staff and Cowl of Aves Rex and the Featherfall Bow she arrived with; for they had long since been legendary items, woven with the wood of the divine; and her brood was her weapon, her undead, her citizens, her children; and more.

As for Leary. Well, there was no weapon the Goblin God-Emperor ever needed to build, for the Elven Devil made Leary into a living weapon.

His living weapon.