Abyssal Awakening

Keeping his focus on the two girls, Sigurd couldn't help but fold his arms in silence.

This was the first time he'd seen such a strange combination. With each move that Selen performed, he could see the strange influence her Sigil produced in the area around her. How she would slow down time to a near halt or accelerate it.

"I'm still watching, keep going." He spoke out. Selen had slowed down a little out of concern once she noticed he wasn't giving her his full attention.

But Sigurd didn't need to. Just reading the flow of her energy and the way she manipulated her surroundings was giving him plenty of information to deal with this.

'She can't make the time move back but slowing it down or speeding it up is no issue…'

He'll admit it. After seeing this kind of power, his interest in making a weapon for her grew. All that was left was now to figure out the most optimal set of abilities or 'skill paths' to follow for this weapon.

When he looks at someone's ability, he sees it as a tree. The more they show, the more branches this tree grows. As he takes a step back to look at this tree, all of the possibilities will manifest as branches that have yet to take form.

Synergies and a flow of ideas from combining multiple aspects of the skills they show.

When he makes a weapon for a specific person, Sigurd will take hold of one of these skill paths and optimize it as much as he can. In essence, a fake personal Artifact.

However… There was something off about Selen's skill paths.

He could see the tree growing and showing more paths, but the largest part of it was missing.

"You've been practising something else recently, haven't you? Since it's your focus, demonstrate it even if it's not finished." Sigurd called out.

Hearing this, Selen glanced over in surprise.

"Don't ask questions, just do as I say." Sigurd interrupted before she could question how he knew.

Furrowing her brows, she eventually nodded her head.

"If it works on you, you'll be surprised." Alice chuckled next to him as he glanced at her with doubt in his eyes.

Making sure that Sigurd was focused on her, Selen activated her skill.

As Selen activated her skill, Sigurd unfolded his arms.

"What the f*ck?" He couldn't help but mutter as Selen appeared not far from him.

It was only a brief moment, far shorter than what Alice and Selen expected. But the fact that it even worked to begin with showed that Selen was on the right path!

A skill that can affect Abyss Lords despite her having five Sigils!

"Oi, girl, do it again." Sigurd demanded as his eyes began to glow with a radiant gold. Sigil markings appeared on the corner of his eyes as Selen nodded her head.

This time, she wanted to see if she could traverse the distance between them to launch a surprise attack.

Activating the skill, she rushed towards him but he was faster.

Appearing in front of Selen, he placed his palm against her stomach and stopped her in her tracks.

Leaning down, he stared into her eyes and furrowed his brows.

'Erasure of time? No… not quite. The energy doesn't stop nor does it freeze. It continues to flow and reappears where it should be if time flows as usual. Meaning… She's somehow jumping the time ahead. But there doesn't seem to be signs of manipulation.

'So it can only be me.' Sigurd concluded.

"Perception huh? I didn't think you could use your powers on my perception rather than the time around you. Not bad." He offered her a rare praise.

The skill tree that he could see for her split apart, revealing a new branch of skills that could be made depending on how she wanted to combine her attacks.

Ideas flowed into his mind like a waterfall while strands of energy began to unravel from his body.

However, before it could get out of control, he snapped his finger and reigned it in.

"Alright, I have a few ideas. Rejoice girl, you've inspired me enough to make you a new numbered equipment." Sigurd smirked as Sigils began to light up across his body. Massaging his shoulders, he walked towards the forge while gesturing for Selen to follow him.

Alice tagged along after noticing the strange movement of energy from his body. Despite originally feeling like a normal human, his aura was beginning to climb.

From one Sigil all the way to six before breaking through to seven and reaching the realm of Lords.

*BANG!!!

Taking a step past a boundary, his figure immediately exploded into a ball of flames as his body transformed into a towering icon of raw strength. A layer of molten rock and flames flowed across his body as his Sigils transformed into flaming tattoos.

Standing in the presence of such a being, both Alice and Selen felt like they were going to melt from the heat.

However, Alice couldn't move her eyes away.

This flow of energy, the colour of his aura, it matched the radiant dance of flames sealed by the ice crystals above.

There wasn't a Lord sealed here. No…

He was the Lord bound to this place!

Raising his hand, flames converged from his surroundings as he condensed it into a single hammer.

*BANG!!!

Slamming it down, the collision of his hammer against the anvil fractured the realm around him as a pulse of flames rushed out, colliding against the boundary but failing to break through.

"Beautiful…" Alice muttered.

One strike was all it took for Sigurd to unravel the weaves of energy that bound the reams together. One strike to strip away what he didn't require and gather only the necessary materials.

Raising his hammer once more, Sigurd struck down.

*BANG!!!

A swirling vortex of weaves danced beneath his hammer, converging into a storm of energy that threatened to tear apart everything that approached.

Yet strangely, within this swirl, a sense of harmony and balance could be sensed.

*BANG!!!

Before the swirl could calm, he struck down once more, inviting chaos into the moment of peace.

"You two should back off, it's going to get dangerous from now." Sigurd warned as he glanced back. But what he saw caused his pupils to constrict in shock.

Selen was shielding herself from the flames and was blown back.

But Alice?

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She stepped through the boundary without care. The flames tore away at her skin but her regeneration was far stronger!

But this wasn't what shocked him.

The way she was staring at the swirl of chaos beneath his hammer…

That concentration…

'She can see the flow!!!'

The gift of being able to see energy was something he gained after sacrifice. A gift to help him forge the masterpieces he wished to bring out to this world.

Yet a girl who's not even a Lord could see the strands?

*Badum!

Clutching his chest, Sigurd couldn't hide the smile on his face as his heart beat with excitement.

How much could she see? How much could she understand?

He could finally share the view of this world that had enamoured him for so many years!

'Keep looking, don't get distracted. With that eye of yours, witness the hidden truths of these lands!' Sigurd roared out inwardly as his aura soared with his excitement.

Reacting to his emotions, the flames around them broke free of the ice as a maelstrom of inferno rushed towards their area but Sigurd didn't care.

These flames were not there to harm but rather to allow his techniques to match his mental image. A pathway to his desires and the fuel to give life to this equipment!

'Watch carefully young one!'

*BANG!!!

Slamming down with his hammer, Sigurd let out a laugh as all light in this realm was exhausted for a split second where only a single source existed. The impact point of his hammer.

*BANG!!!

Each strike birthed a waterfall of sparks and new weaves of energy that Alice had never seen before. The strands of his Sigils weaving together with the foundations of this realm to bring forth a new material.

*BANG!!!

From this material, golden lights illuminated the centre, filling the empty shell with power.

*BANG!!!

The ice around him began to shatter as the echo of energy breached the boundary and pulsed towards the surface.

Before the wave could reach the civilians, Frida intervened.

'What is this idiot doing?!' She gritted her teeth.

For a simple reward, this was going far beyond what should've been allowed. Something must've happened for Sigurd to go this far.

At this rate, the equipment he forges could rival the masterpieces he created near the start of his journey!

That moment when his inspiration was at an all time high and his desires burned brighter than the cosmic star. The burning will that caused the great God of the Eclipse to ask him for a weapon!

*BANG!!!

With the final strike, flames burst out, engulfing the entire cavern. But this was not the flames of destruction.

No, this was creation.

The flames of birth that will bring forth Sigurd's newest masterpiece.

*RUMBLE!!!

From above, lightning crackled as strands of energy weaved into a cosmic figure. From his hands, flames birthed forth as he wrapped his palms around where Sigurd stood.

At that moment, a vacuum began to greedily suck in the energy from around them. An ever growing black hole that refused to stop.

*BANG!!!

The final strike of his hammer.

With this final strike, the equipment was complete. Time seemed to halt in this world as the all the energy condensed into a single ring.

Number 247 - Aeternum Vow