Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Harvesting

Drip

The sound of a drop hitting the surface was the only thing breaking the silence, until a new sound intruded.

“How… annoying,” a voice spoke from the side of the small room. Its walls were covered in glowing symbols that pulsed in a synchronized rhythm. A light source was fixed on the ceiling, a gemstone the size of a fist, casting the room in the dim orange glow, lengthening the shadows on the floor and the walls.

A tall and wide figure sat on a backless chair that barely fit his frame, his white fur was matted from sweat and grime caused by his tireless work. His head was turned down, his many ringed eyes were focused on the work placed on the long wooden table pushed against the stone wall. Thick legs, held it up, reinforced by symbols carved into its surface. Trinkets, pieces of metal, gears, and wooden planks littered its surface, seemingly thrown around aimlessly. Three orb-like, constructs floated above the figure’s head, rotating slowly. Their metal surface was covered with decorative lines, while at their front a small opening allowed a glowing gem to be seen within. Each of the orbs held a different colored gem, blue, green, and red. The light coming out of them was focused into a narrow beams, each carving symbols on pieces of metal floating alongside them. Once a metal plate was filled, it would fly away, carried by the air itself to a shelf nearby.

There was no pause, no input by the figure. The orbs operated alone, like an automated assembly line, tirelessly working, fulfilling their purpose.

Drip

“So many changes,” the figure, the yeti, the Runesmith, the Bondsmith, the Worldsmith, Ra’azel Equinar, whispered in the dark as his deft fingers moved over the construct on the table with precision and intent. Every move was calculated, every muscle of his hand moving exactly as he wanted it to, a mastery of someone who had spent lifetimes perfecting his craft.

The target of his attention was a piece of thick and flat dark steel, as long as his forearm and etched with runes. Next to it was a piece of preserved flesh, carved out of a living being. Grey skin and red meat below were wrapped with his power, runes preserving it and keeping it alive. In his hands he held something ethereal, unseen to anyone but his senses, something that didn’t fully exist in the Real Realm. “It saddens me that I am still so restricted. If only I could affix this to myself, to my own body,” he shook his head in disappointment. “I was looking forward to being able to use Qi, to feel how techniques work closely… But alas, this shall have to do for now.”

Drip

Ra’azel layered the flesh and steel one over the other, then pushed down on the steel and the flesh, pressing in the system of Qi conduits and a core into them, anchoring it. The runes flashed, for a moment his hand trembled as he felt the resistance, but his will guided his runes, the pieces of his Soul infused into them tweaked the runes intent, and the resistance was gone. The conduits and core sunk into the plate and flesh, bound to it.

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He did not believe that flesh was required, his research had suggested that some Cultivators don’t even have bodies made out flesh. Still, his body was missing something that the others had. A more intimate link to this Framework. The flesh was the easiest to acquire.

Drip

“Now,” Ra’azel whispered to himself again as he picked up the plate and flesh with one hand. “This will not do at all.”

He raised his other hand, his willpower flared and a piece of his Soul siphoned out through his body, to the tips of his fingers. With a single sharpened claw, he carefully carved a rune, then another and another, a sequence that once he had used to bind an Aspect. Within it was an order, a way to command an Aspect to his bidding. But there were no unique beings, no manifestations of an Aspect, not in this Infinite Realm. Only unbound Essence, and the people who commanded it.

The piece of metal in front of him had no master, it was unbound, and so the intent of his sequence overrode its with ease. The metal softened and flowed, the runes on it shifted as it shaped itself into a vambrace that surrounded the flesh as its core. Once, long ago, he had started on his path as a smith working with metal. Shaping it came easily to him, though the time when he used a hammer and fire was long gone, he still enjoyed working with metals.

Drip

Following his will, the metal shifted, elaborate decorative lines appeared as the runes sunk deep inside, hidden and protected within the core of the item. Once finished, he pressed it to his arm and it formed around it, settling into place. He felt the runes he carved reach out and touch his Soul, and suddenly an unfamiliar sensation filled his head. It was murky, he could barely feel it, as if there was a disconnect, a fog over his connection. He had expected that, it was not meant for him.

He stood up and turned to a dark corner of the room and walked over, his bare feet stepping into the wet pool on the floor.

Drip, another drop of blood hit the ground

He ignored the blood sticking to the soles of his feet, and leaned forward, looking at the form suspended on chains and hooks.

“Now, where is it?” He asked, not really expecting an answer. “Which part of your Soul holds these techniques of yours?”

He reached forward, his hand turning ethereal and surrounded by a faint glow. A rune ignited on his own Soul, and his hand sunk into the withered husk. He sifted around, not taking any care to be gentle at all, the husk twitched, but there was no sound coming out of its throat. Finally, he found what he was looking for, it was obvious after a closer look, he had already harvested most of the rest.

“There it is,” he whispered absentmindedly as he pulled out a piece of the Soul, careful not to damage it. He carved runes, altered versions of his Aspect Bindings, and bound the piece of the Soul to his will. Then, he slowly grafted it onto himself, layering it into the patchwork of Soul pieces already added to his own Soul. It was curious to him, how some pieces seemed to integrate perfectly with his body while others required a work around. But, in a way it did make sense. The Infinite Realm was the next iteration, the one following his. Some things in the Infinite Realm were built up from what Ra’azel was familiar with, while others were something new.

With the will and runes, he connected the elements of his Soul with the vambrace, and then he started to experiment.

No knowledge poured into his head, like with all the other pieces that he had taken, but instinct, as if something from long ago that he could barely remember, that echoed in the deepest reaches of his mind. He stepped to the other side of the room, and the construct that he had built as target practice.

Then once he felt like he had a handle on it, he focused. His will and Soul responded. Something flowed out of the addition to his being, and touched his vambrace. A small blast expanded out of his construct, the air pushed away, hitting the target and rocking it slightly.

Ra’azel smiled, he had more work to do, but soon he would know all the secrets of this new Framework, and he would bind it all to his will.