Chapter 195: The Wonderful Crafting Session of a Mischievous Shapeshifter and a Crazy Shadow (2)
After hours of tenacious work in the forge room, Sunny and Hugo had finally done it, crafting seven powerful javelins, identical to each other in size and shape.
The process had drained some of their essence as they needed to constantly use their aspects and augment their bodies but thanks to the multitude of cores provided by their divine aspects, they managed to sustain themselves without too much trouble.
Hugo wiped the sweat off his temple and exhaled.
He fused some of Heatblast's DNA with his own human DNA, causing the sweat to evaporate.
Sunny, on the other hand, simply washed himself using [Endless Spring].
They both summoned the upper parts of their clothes and placed the seven javelins on a crystal table.
Alongside the javelins was a chain that connected them all.
This was another item Hugo had briefly made from the Heavenly Chains. He had only altered its shape, really, and made it connect the seven javelins together so that the enchantments could flow better.
"So now's the hard part, right?" Sunny summoned his shadow chair and took a seat.
"Yes. I'm not exactly sure how we should go about it, though. For starters, how will runic sorcery interact with your weaving?"
Hugo's original plan had been to enchant the javelins himself, and later on have Sunny turn them into a singular memory to increase the potency of the enchantments. That said, he had no idea if the original enchantments imprinted on the item by runic sorcery would remain when Sunny turns it into a memory.
"The enchantments should stay." Sunny said, after a moment of deep contemplation. "If I weave the essence strings correctly, and avoid the runic inscriptions you'll place, then the memory born out of the javelin, in theory, should retain the previous attributes you placed upon it. Moreover, I would be able to modify those enchantments when they become "memory enchantments", which is a bonus. The only problem would be that I'll need a while to enchant the javelins without harming the original enchantments."
Hugo traced his hands across the javelin and nodded.
"I should be able to help with that."
He activated his Omnitrix and cycled through his transformations, landing on a small grey figure.
Smashing the dial, Hugo's body shrunk down and transformed into a small grey alien with a slightly overgrown head.
As Grey Matter, Hugo jumped up and landed on the table.
He tapped his head.
"Using my tyrant ability in this form, I should be able to bless you with hyper intelligence. Well, in truth it's not intelligence but speeding up your brain using soul essence to make each of its functions faster and extremely more efficient but it's technically the same thing."
Sunny was surprised for a moment.
"I forgot that you had that ability."
"I don't use it much due to the fact that I've been busy creating an army of powerful minions to kill nightmare creatures. But anyway, it's better I start."
Hugo locked the Omnitrix, making sure he'd remain in this form, and thus stopping the essence leakage that would cause him to detransform.
At the same time, he summoned a small tendril using the [Mechamorphic Asura], and shaped it into a knife.
Looking at the javelins, he started inscribing the runes on the mighty weapons via the knife.
He was not going to use galvanic sorcery, as the enchantment would be much more primal and far less complex compared to the ones he used to create the weapons for the cohort.
Thanks to trading complexity for simplicity, the enchantments would naturally be stronger than usual.
This time, the memory would have seven powerful enchantments, each engineered specifically to combat the Winter Beast.
Before Hugo begun working on the item, he suddenly remembered something.
He reached into his soul sea, and summoned the [Dragon Table], a memory he had received from slaying a powerful corrupted tyrant alongside Saint Cor a few months ago.
It was a powerful utility memory that enhances sorcery and artifacts, so using it here would certainly be of great help.
Hugo made Sunny carry the javelins and place them on the [Dragon Table].
The first enchantment of the javelins was the most simple, it was the beginning of the runic array, in the shape of a circle that contained the following syllables:
[Connection]
[Seven.]
[Chain]
Alongside the following sentence: [Those javelins and the chain are a single item.]
This enchantment made it so the whole seven javelins were considered one item, instead of being a different set connected together by chains.
It didn't take long to complete it, as Hugo masterfully wrote down the runes and poured his "intent" into them.
His affinity to runic sorcery in this form, alongside his hyper intelligence, allowed him to rapidly complete the process.
The second and third enchantments came in a pair, containing the words responsible for a powerful ability:
[Absorb.]
[Store.]
[Darkness.]
Alongside the phrase: [Absorb and store true darkness.]
The second enchantment was:
[Darkness.]
[Augmentation.]
[Mantle.]
With the sentence: [Gain strength when wielded by creatures of darkness.]
The first enchantment allowed the javelins to imprint true darkness upon them and store it, and indirectly, inherit the properties of true darkness.
The mystical power that was once wielded by the daemon of destiny, and the stone saints, was an extremely potent force.
It might not be a direct counter to ice, or the authority of the Winter Beast, but it was definitely something that would prove troublesome to the corrupted Titan.
Not to mention, Hugo was planning to make Sunny's onyx saint—a Transcendent demon who had a heart full of darkness—the wielder and thrower of this javelin. This way, the second enchantment would recognize Saint's darkness and be empowered by it.
Those two enchantments were connected, and as such, inscribing them proved to be a tiresome challenge that needed Hugo to pour in more work.
It was a good thing that he had spent a long time in the form of a stone saint, which meant that he understood true darkness and as such, the runic words for [True darkness] came to him easily.
The fourth enchantment, on the other hand, was perhaps the hardest enchantment Hugo had ever made.
It was the ability to locate shadows, or to be specific, a copy of one of Sunny's abilities, shadow sense.
Hugo had a similar kind of sense, inherited from the lineage of shadow god, however Sunny had the real deal which allowed him to detect shadows from miles away.
Still, Hugo had a kind of understanding of the ability and after a long time of analyzing and writing, he came up with the following words:
[Shadow.]
[Sense]
[Detect]
[Find shadows of corrupted creatures.]
The reason Hugo had made the runic sentence specifically mention corrupted creatures was simple, as he was planning to make the spear detect the shadow of the Winter Beast who was a creature of corruption.
This would narrow the effects of the enchantment and make it much more detailed. The reason he didn't write down "the shadow of the Winter Beast" was because that title was not the true name of the titan, and thus it would not do anything.
After all, he needed to hit its shadow...
But why would this even be an enchantment?
That's where the fifth enchantment came into play.
The enchantment that would allow this javelin to attack the shadows of others, something that even Sunny, with his mastery over shadows, could not do.
Only two people could do such a thing, at least in the waking world. It was a person who went by the name Shadow Blade Kurt, an Awakened who had gone rogue and was put down by Sunny and Jet.
Hugo had read his files, and despite the tragedy he had committed, Hugo had to admit that his aspect was powerful.
The second person was Hugo himself, when he assumed the form of a shadow serpent.
Soul attacks, mind attacks... Both were deadly assaults that all creatures feared.
But shadow attacks were even more deadly, as they targeted the shadow, which was the "death" of a creature.
The fifth enchantment would be the ability to hit the shadows, and thanks to Hugo's innate understanding of such concepts, he was able to make out the following runic phrase:
[Impale the shadows of corrupted beings.]
Hugo could not make the phrase too big, or else it would be impossible to create with his current abilities. However, he decided to make the phrase more specific, so that it would hit the shadow of the Winter Beast, who was a creature of corruption.
Thanks to the second and third enchantments, those javelins would be a weapon of darkness, and true darkness was the enemy of all shadows, so in theory, those enchantments should benefit from each other greatly.
However, this set of javelins was not able to kill the Winter Beast. It was a Titan, after all. Thankfully, they were never meant to slay the titan but weaken it, instead.
Which is where the sixth and seventh enchantments came in.
[Suck]
[Drain]
[Absorb.]
[Drain the essence of creatures.]
He didn't want to include the word "corrupted" as that could lead to the enchantment draining corruption from the Winter Beast, which could have unseen consequences.
Instead he made it absorb soul essence, or whatever unique type of essence the Winter Beast had.
As for the last enchantment:
[Accommodate]
[Memory]
[Enchantment]
[Accommodate and assimilate a single memory into this artifact.]
The last enchantment served a nebulous purpose, one that Sunny had come up with.
They were planning to use the memory [Dark Soul], the same one they had used against the White Devil, to fuse it with the javelins.
That way, when the javelins are shot, they would not only impale the shadow of the Winter Beast and weaken it but also activate [Dark Soul] enchantment in order to combat the Winter Beast's authority directly.
Of course, a mere Transcendent memory could not negate the authority completely but it would certainly help in weakening it.
With enchantments done, Hugo looked at his creation and thought for a few seconds.
"So if all goes to plan, the javelins should spread around when they're shot, one should impale the Winter Beast's shadow, and the six others should spread around the Winter Beast's storm, surrounding the titan in a large circle. The chains connecting them would be high in the sky, and at their heart the [Dark Soul] should activate and weaken the storm."
Sunny examined the almost finished artifact.
"I'll assume I'll have to modify some of the enchantments?"
Hugo nodded.
"Naturally. Firstly, change the first enchantment so the chains can spread around the battlefield. I got that idea from Master Roan's rods, by the way — it's a very useful trick. As for the other modifications, make the last one accommodate the [Dark Soul] memory, while also adding a timed trigger. An activation timer, because we won't be able to activate its barrier enchantment from afar. Also... Most of those enchantments, on their own, would not work. For example, the shadow sense and shadow attack enchantments are simply too powerful for a mere Transcendent artifact to have. But with your weaving — and thanks to the nature of memories — they should become functional enchantments when you weave them."
After all, if runic sorcery could replicate aspect abilities this easily, then there would be no need for anyone to use their aspects, and instead persue sorcery.
Sunny sighed.
"More work for me..."
He summoned his needle but before he could start weaving, Hugo interrupted him.
"What?"
"Hold on a second."
So far, Hugo had only used one enchantment of [Dragon Table], which was the [Sorcerer Enchantment]
Memory Enchantments: [Darkness Affinity], [Sorcerer Enchantment], [Heart of the Dragon]
[Darkness Affinity] Enchantment Description: [You can imbue items with an affinity to True Darkness.]
[Sorcerer Enchantment] Enchantment Description: [All types of sorcery made on this table are augmented.]
[Heart of the Dragon] Enchantment Description: [This Memory can augment items with the tenacity of dragons.]
He activated [Heart of the Dragon] and [Darkness Affinity] at the same time.
The javelins lit up slightly, and golden energy was imbued into them, making them stronger and more durable.
At the same time, a dark energy seeped into their frame, granting them an affinity of true darkness which helped second enchantment and filled it with some true darkness.
Lastly, Hugo poured a lot of soul essence into the runic array, powering it and activating it.
Exhausted and completely drained of essence, Hugo let out a sigh.
"It's done. Now it's up to you."
He kept the javelins on the [Dragon Table] so Sunny can benefit from the [Sorcerer Enchantment] as well.
Weaving was a type of sorcery, after all.
Sunny summoned two extra pairs of arms using [Shadow Manifestation] and brought his seat closer to the table, as he slowly began weaving the artifact into a memory.
After a while, Hugo regained some of his essence thanks to the [Shroud of Graceless Dusk] and activated Grey Matter's tyrant ability.
Sunny's eyes widened as his brain suddenly became much sharper, and faster, as well. His hands moved at a faster pace, becoming more skilled, as if they had a will of their own.
While Sunny was weaving the artifact, Hugo took on a meditative position and prepared himself mentally for the next part of the plan...
He was going to challenge another pseudo trial, against the strongest alien within the third chamber.