Chapter 1244
New
Malcolm Tent
Monkey with a typewriter.
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It took me three days to successfully undo the corruption. Well, it took US three days. I used Dan to deconstruct the process and Wisdom of Solomon to simulate possible solutions, and between them and the soul of the creature (whose name was apparently Steve, of all things, though my dad refused to let us call him that because he said it was underwhelming), we were able to reverse the corruption of all the monsters and return them to their prior angelic states.
This was extremely important because while Amy's mom WAS among the corrupted, there were also several very old angels who had firsthand knowledge of the Phoenix Foundry, and they were more than willing to share information on the subject once we fixed them up.
Still, the wait for the three days it took to fix them, despite being objectively worthwhile, ate at me a little. If not for Callie's excitement when I told her about all the new angels, I don't think I'd have been able to stop myself from spiraling at the wait. Three days was about two weeks at our current timescale, which was closer to five to one than the seven to one it had been outside, but two weeks was still two weeks. I didn't like it.
Despite that though, I had to admit the heartfelt video thank you from my teary eyed wife, not to mention the long letter she'd sent to Amy after hearing about everything the girl had been through, soothed a lot of my discomfort at waiting. Callie wasn't just ok with me taking my time, she was happy about it. My wife was a true hero, and knowing I was helping her people had lit a fire under her in a way I was almost shocked about. The gleam in her eyes in that video almost made me feel sorry for Belsara. Almost.
"Credit for your thoughts?" Abel said as he sat down next to me. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "We might be on different levels now, but I was your teacher for a while. Your buddy, sister, and healer asked me to keep an eye out while we're on this trip. They asked Bethy too but, well…"
I grinned. "Bethy is Bethy," I agreed. "She's currently putting on a lion taming show for the angel kids with Apples. The fact that none of those children is even remotely worried about the cat is honestly scarier than fighting the ACTUAL Manticore. Bethy's powers are truly great and terrible. I'm glad she's doing better after her run in with Steve."
"Your dad said not to call him that," Abel said, in a voice that told me he cared even less than I did.
I just laughed at that. "Because he likes to seem powerful and mysterious, and after he converted Steve into one of those mirror souls, he's an asset."
"Pretty sure he was an asshat well before that," Abel said solemnly, and we both burst out laughing. "But yeah, she kind of took that whole snack pack thing personally. I get it though, she's got her issues with that kind of thing. I was mostly coming to see how you were doing. You've been keeping a lid on it but you've got to be getting a little antsy."
Chuckling, I shrugged. "It helps that we got so much information on the Phoenix Foundry. Not just the flame, mind, but information that might help us bypass a few links in this endless nonsense chain of webworld fragments as we head to the central area. The Summer Palace."
Because that was its name. We knew that now. Some of the older angels we'd saved DID remember Belsara, and they'd been happy to share what they knew. Admittedly that wasn't as much as I'd have preferred, but it also wasn't nothing. Beyond that, the Foundry was apparently where Belsara's forces had forged their weaponry. It probably wasn't full of perfect quality gear waiting to be cleared out, but it was likely SOMETHING had been left behind, and anything from the realm of a god as powerful as Belsara had been would be at least competitive in today's forging environment.
My eyes trailed down to my armor. The Seal had been falling behind since I hit A-rank, and while I didn't have the old smith who made it to do the upgrade, I DID have Zeke, who was not only a master craftsman in his own right but had participated in the last upgrade.
On that note, I approached him directly about the possibility of upgrading the suit. "So, this Foundry place should have some useful materials and maybe some forging equipment intact. Did you learn enough during my last armor upgrade to push this to S-rank if we find the right mats for it?"
"Not personally," he admitted. "But then, I don't need to. I have a mask with a crafter in it, and your dad should have at least one soul that can pitch in. I learned enough about the process that we can pull together to make something workable."
My mother weighed in. "I can help with that," we all turned to stare at her, and she rolled her eyes. "My father's bloodline is a type of fire that purifies things. You don't think he ever tried applying that to forging? Dad went through a long blacksmith phase, and I learned quite a bit about making and maintaining arms and armor as a girl. I'm a bit out of practice, but I'm sure it's as easy as welding the frame of a bike."
That got a nod from my dad. "She used to have a forge back at our old house on Callus when you and your sister were small. Not sure if you remember it, but she spent quite a bit of time out there."
"I don't," I admitted. "I don't remember a lot from that time in my life. But having more help can't hurt."
"It definitely can," my mom warned. "Communal projects only work if there's a strong sense of direction in the forge. Tempo is key when working with metals, as is timing in general. But given your father has at least one mirror soul in his collection with forging abilities, we should be able to manage something if we plan it out first. That said, while we COULD muddle through, we have better options for this than you think."
I raised a brow at her. "What options are those?"
"Well it seems to me," she pointed out. "That what we're doing is a form of information sharing. We're gathering disparate skills and techniques from different parties and mashing them together alongside specifications for materials and your current gear and trying to create a result that gives us the best possible result. Sound like anything you have a solution for?"
I blinked, because when she put it like that…"Dan," I said slowly. "And Wisdom. We know Dan can take information from people and objects directly, as long as nothing is fighting him, and Wisdom can iterate with that information in different configurations to find the best usage for it. Hell, I bet Celestial Fabrication could help too, might help him get a tier or two, and probably improve the overall quality of the armor."
My mom nodded approvingly. "It is important," she said firmly. "To remember that there are often more ways to solve a problem than you think. There are many kinds of Ascendant, but those of your particular inclination especially need to remember to make the best possible us of the tools you have. Your forms and archdemons are one way to do that, but not the only way."
She was right. I'd gotten so used to stacking my demons together to create compound effects that I didn't even consider just having them work together. Although…"Actually, do you think archdemons are off the table for this?" I asked cautiously. "Because thinking about it, creating a forging demon from those three would probably be the best way to maximize our results on that armor redesign."
"You're not wrong," she admitted. "Are you sure that will work? You need time to get that together, don't you?"
"Less than I used to," I corrected. "Celestial Fabrication helps with designing new timepieces. It'll take us a while to gather materials and search the Foundry anyway. Wherever the summer phoenix flame is, I somehow doubt it's going to be easy to get at."
She nodded grimly. "That flame…if what they told you about it is true, you might be the only person who can use it properly."
"It's definitely terrifying to think about," I acknowledged. Aside from information on Belsara's palace, at least one of the older angels had been able to tell me the details about that flame, or at least the phoenix it came from. It was a familiar, if counterintuitive concept. The flame of the Summer Phoenix, Halcyon, was the flame of progress. Which was to say, it was a flame that embodied time's ability to allow for growth.
My Ruin Phoenix was the exact opposite of that particular concept, and I couldn't help but think of the sheer variety of possibilities for something like that. Of course, I still wasn't sure exactly the side effects of that bloodline would be. Maybe it would boost Fantasy? Or Creation? Whatever the case, if it was like Ruin that would just be the icing on the cake. The real benefit would come from the flame itself.
In fact, I could already think of a dozen applications for something like that. Applying it to something like Zagan or Genesis Burst, for instance. A temporal shift with additional benefits to positive effects involving growth and improvement would make any healing ability I mixed it with exponentially more effective, I was betting.
Of course, I still needed to complete my template for the clear mind flame, not to mention a few others before I could hit S-rank, but that was something to worry about later. For now, identifying my sixth flame was progress, and finding a solid place to look for it was even better.
"You know, as much flack as I gave your uncle about his criticism," my mother said dryly. "It really IS a bad idea to space out in the middle of hostile territory."
"THANK YOU!" Zeke bellowed from across the room.
She just rolled her eyes. "Stopped clock, twice a day, etcetera. Statistically he had to be right about something eventually." She winked at me when Zeke yelled a wordless objection, making it clear that she just liked teasing him. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't take it personally anyway.
"We should be leaving soon," I finally said as I focused on the door nearby. "But I don't want to abandon Amy so soon. She still seems a bit shaken. I'll stay and work on my new archdemon, so we have it ready when we head in. We can set off for the Foundry tomorrow."
Laughing, she pulled me into a hug. I knew she was a bit worried about making sure Amy was ok too. I hadn't talked to the girl since we'd gotten back, since I'd assumed she'd want time with her mom, but I couldn't deny she made me think about what my own daughter might be like. Daughters? Now that I knew we were having twins I was completely in the dark again.
Chuckling, I headed off to find a private place to work on my archdemon construction. Dantalion, Wisdom of Solomon, Celestial Fabrication, maybe even Agares. I had so many ideas for possible additions to this one, and once I made it, I had a feeling we were going to see some serious benefit to this whole situation. I ran a hand over my forearm, feeling my armor as I considered my options for the future. Yeah, I couldn't wait to see how this would turn out.
This was extremely important because while Amy's mom WAS among the corrupted, there were also several very old angels who had firsthand knowledge of the Phoenix Foundry, and they were more than willing to share information on the subject once we fixed them up.
Still, the wait for the three days it took to fix them, despite being objectively worthwhile, ate at me a little. If not for Callie's excitement when I told her about all the new angels, I don't think I'd have been able to stop myself from spiraling at the wait. Three days was about two weeks at our current timescale, which was closer to five to one than the seven to one it had been outside, but two weeks was still two weeks. I didn't like it.
Despite that though, I had to admit the heartfelt video thank you from my teary eyed wife, not to mention the long letter she'd sent to Amy after hearing about everything the girl had been through, soothed a lot of my discomfort at waiting. Callie wasn't just ok with me taking my time, she was happy about it. My wife was a true hero, and knowing I was helping her people had lit a fire under her in a way I was almost shocked about. The gleam in her eyes in that video almost made me feel sorry for Belsara. Almost.
"Credit for your thoughts?" Abel said as he sat down next to me. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "We might be on different levels now, but I was your teacher for a while. Your buddy, sister, and healer asked me to keep an eye out while we're on this trip. They asked Bethy too but, well…"
I grinned. "Bethy is Bethy," I agreed. "She's currently putting on a lion taming show for the angel kids with Apples. The fact that none of those children is even remotely worried about the cat is honestly scarier than fighting the ACTUAL Manticore. Bethy's powers are truly great and terrible. I'm glad she's doing better after her run in with Steve."
"Your dad said not to call him that," Abel said, in a voice that told me he cared even less than I did.
I just laughed at that. "Because he likes to seem powerful and mysterious, and after he converted Steve into one of those mirror souls, he's an asset."
"Pretty sure he was an asshat well before that," Abel said solemnly, and we both burst out laughing. "But yeah, she kind of took that whole snack pack thing personally. I get it though, she's got her issues with that kind of thing. I was mostly coming to see how you were doing. You've been keeping a lid on it but you've got to be getting a little antsy."
Chuckling, I shrugged. "It helps that we got so much information on the Phoenix Foundry. Not just the flame, mind, but information that might help us bypass a few links in this endless nonsense chain of webworld fragments as we head to the central area. The Summer Palace."
Because that was its name. We knew that now. Some of the older angels we'd saved DID remember Belsara, and they'd been happy to share what they knew. Admittedly that wasn't as much as I'd have preferred, but it also wasn't nothing. Beyond that, the Foundry was apparently where Belsara's forces had forged their weaponry. It probably wasn't full of perfect quality gear waiting to be cleared out, but it was likely SOMETHING had been left behind, and anything from the realm of a god as powerful as Belsara had been would be at least competitive in today's forging environment.
My eyes trailed down to my armor. The Seal had been falling behind since I hit A-rank, and while I didn't have the old smith who made it to do the upgrade, I DID have Zeke, who was not only a master craftsman in his own right but had participated in the last upgrade.
On that note, I approached him directly about the possibility of upgrading the suit. "So, this Foundry place should have some useful materials and maybe some forging equipment intact. Did you learn enough during my last armor upgrade to push this to S-rank if we find the right mats for it?"
"Not personally," he admitted. "But then, I don't need to. I have a mask with a crafter in it, and your dad should have at least one soul that can pitch in. I learned enough about the process that we can pull together to make something workable."
My mother weighed in. "I can help with that," we all turned to stare at her, and she rolled her eyes. "My father's bloodline is a type of fire that purifies things. You don't think he ever tried applying that to forging? Dad went through a long blacksmith phase, and I learned quite a bit about making and maintaining arms and armor as a girl. I'm a bit out of practice, but I'm sure it's as easy as welding the frame of a bike."
That got a nod from my dad. "She used to have a forge back at our old house on Callus when you and your sister were small. Not sure if you remember it, but she spent quite a bit of time out there."
"I don't," I admitted. "I don't remember a lot from that time in my life. But having more help can't hurt."
"It definitely can," my mom warned. "Communal projects only work if there's a strong sense of direction in the forge. Tempo is key when working with metals, as is timing in general. But given your father has at least one mirror soul in his collection with forging abilities, we should be able to manage something if we plan it out first. That said, while we COULD muddle through, we have better options for this than you think."
I raised a brow at her. "What options are those?"
"Well it seems to me," she pointed out. "That what we're doing is a form of information sharing. We're gathering disparate skills and techniques from different parties and mashing them together alongside specifications for materials and your current gear and trying to create a result that gives us the best possible result. Sound like anything you have a solution for?"
I blinked, because when she put it like that…"Dan," I said slowly. "And Wisdom. We know Dan can take information from people and objects directly, as long as nothing is fighting him, and Wisdom can iterate with that information in different configurations to find the best usage for it. Hell, I bet Celestial Fabrication could help too, might help him get a tier or two, and probably improve the overall quality of the armor."
My mom nodded approvingly. "It is important," she said firmly. "To remember that there are often more ways to solve a problem than you think. There are many kinds of Ascendant, but those of your particular inclination especially need to remember to make the best possible us of the tools you have. Your forms and archdemons are one way to do that, but not the only way."
She was right. I'd gotten so used to stacking my demons together to create compound effects that I didn't even consider just having them work together. Although…"Actually, do you think archdemons are off the table for this?" I asked cautiously. "Because thinking about it, creating a forging demon from those three would probably be the best way to maximize our results on that armor redesign."
"You're not wrong," she admitted. "Are you sure that will work? You need time to get that together, don't you?"
"Less than I used to," I corrected. "Celestial Fabrication helps with designing new timepieces. It'll take us a while to gather materials and search the Foundry anyway. Wherever the summer phoenix flame is, I somehow doubt it's going to be easy to get at."
She nodded grimly. "That flame…if what they told you about it is true, you might be the only person who can use it properly."
"It's definitely terrifying to think about," I acknowledged. Aside from information on Belsara's palace, at least one of the older angels had been able to tell me the details about that flame, or at least the phoenix it came from. It was a familiar, if counterintuitive concept. The flame of the Summer Phoenix, Halcyon, was the flame of progress. Which was to say, it was a flame that embodied time's ability to allow for growth.
My Ruin Phoenix was the exact opposite of that particular concept, and I couldn't help but think of the sheer variety of possibilities for something like that. Of course, I still wasn't sure exactly the side effects of that bloodline would be. Maybe it would boost Fantasy? Or Creation? Whatever the case, if it was like Ruin that would just be the icing on the cake. The real benefit would come from the flame itself.
In fact, I could already think of a dozen applications for something like that. Applying it to something like Zagan or Genesis Burst, for instance. A temporal shift with additional benefits to positive effects involving growth and improvement would make any healing ability I mixed it with exponentially more effective, I was betting.
Of course, I still needed to complete my template for the clear mind flame, not to mention a few others before I could hit S-rank, but that was something to worry about later. For now, identifying my sixth flame was progress, and finding a solid place to look for it was even better.
"You know, as much flack as I gave your uncle about his criticism," my mother said dryly. "It really IS a bad idea to space out in the middle of hostile territory."
"THANK YOU!" Zeke bellowed from across the room.
She just rolled her eyes. "Stopped clock, twice a day, etcetera. Statistically he had to be right about something eventually." She winked at me when Zeke yelled a wordless objection, making it clear that she just liked teasing him. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't take it personally anyway.
"We should be leaving soon," I finally said as I focused on the door nearby. "But I don't want to abandon Amy so soon. She still seems a bit shaken. I'll stay and work on my new archdemon, so we have it ready when we head in. We can set off for the Foundry tomorrow."
Laughing, she pulled me into a hug. I knew she was a bit worried about making sure Amy was ok too. I hadn't talked to the girl since we'd gotten back, since I'd assumed she'd want time with her mom, but I couldn't deny she made me think about what my own daughter might be like. Daughters? Now that I knew we were having twins I was completely in the dark again.
Chuckling, I headed off to find a private place to work on my archdemon construction. Dantalion, Wisdom of Solomon, Celestial Fabrication, maybe even Agares. I had so many ideas for possible additions to this one, and once I made it, I had a feeling we were going to see some serious benefit to this whole situation. I ran a hand over my forearm, feeling my armor as I considered my options for the future. Yeah, I couldn't wait to see how this would turn out.