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((fusing the 55 swords into 27 swords as per Masterwork Refine Weapon. Fusing 12 Legendary Boar blades from the Bakugami encounter together. Also drinking 14 eggnog to give the whole fusing spree +25%. Pumping all 27 swords into Abyssian, sans fully fused Boar Sword. 66 rolls in total. For the 55 fodder blades, the 27 weakest blades go into the 27 strongest blades once, with a remainder of one strongest blade getting two swords pumped into it because math and s**t. For the boar swords, each Legendary Golden sword gets 3 Legendary boar swords, and then one of the Golden swords gets the other two pumped into it.))

Rota was finally done with the swords. He now had an entire armory under one roof. Now was the time to put them together. 27 swords into Abyssian. Doing this would make it the most powerful sword in the world and rid him of the voices that plagued his conscious mind. he took a deep swig of Eggnog and got to work, grabbing the weakest blades and feeding them to the strongest. He did as he always did, bashing the weak sword with a hammer repeatedly, watching the cracks in its blade spiderweb across until it was at the tipping point. Then he would take the stronger of the two blades and feed the weaker one to it by breaking the fodder with the feeding.It was going to be a long process. Longer than anything he had done up to this point to feed all of these blades to Abyssian, but it was worth it. The plan had to work. There was no going back now that he was so close.

He had done this one crafting session for what felt like years at this point. Nothing else would stand in his way of victory. not time, not exhaustion. With a will of flame he pressed on, feeding swords to other swords. it was amazing how far he'd come. The Demon Warrior to the Demon Artisan. Well no more. after this project was done, he wouldn't have to touch a forge for a good long time. this new form of Abyssian would see to that. he would need to take a break in the middle of merging the Abyssian fodder to combine the Legendary Boar blades he had received from that incident. What amazing fortune that he would stumble across 9 Legendary Boar Greatswords, and 3 Legendary Golden Boar Greatswords. all after getting the Heart of Twilight. With that, he could make Abyssian deal insane Bleed damage. It would be a worthwhile addition to his fire damage, especially when it came to villains like Tarud. This would be the blade that ended Hackers for good, no ifs, and's, or buts. With this blade his own natural skill, and Alyxandeyr on his side there would be nothing that could stop them from demolishing anything in their way, including the Goldenwood.

He still had no earthly clue what was inside those doors, but chances are it wasn't pleasant. and if those...things were of any indication that was to be expected. it was weird. He was putting himself through more hell than he had ever gone through in the alternate dungeon, yet here he was enjoying himself infinitely more. Why was that? was it just because he had ultimate control over a hell of his own design? That had to be it. This was still an obligation to finish, but it was on his terms and in a more reliable fashion. Gods he didn't miss that dungeon.

He still had nightmares about beetles sometimes. it was as if He was an unknowing rain god, and the clouds kept raining on him to cheer him up, yet he hated rain. Just replace rain with beetles and hate with loathe entirely. he had to admit on some level that the armor that he had gotten from that dungeon had lasted him a long time without needing an upgrade. that said, his current armor was INFINITELY better than that armor could ever dream to be. The armor couldn't have been more fitting for him. He came into the gloomwood recieving boar armor, and he would leave it wearing the flesh of their boar GOD. It was how it was supposed to be. While boars were not his favorite creature out there, it seemed like they were unnaturally drawn to him. Their tusks at least. Rota was at least fairly certain Alyxandeyr hadn't set out to become the Gloomking when he started his adventure, it just happened to fall in his lap. Well, Rota's boar affinity was the same way. Boars had been a big part of every step of his personal journey. They were the first fight he ever had. They were the beast that introduced him to Alyx. They were the first beast he ever saw stand back up. They were the first beast to ever deal damage to him. They WERE the first beast he had intended to tame, but then bears got in the way of that. They were the first creature he had armor from. They were the first Golden Beast he had ever seen. They were the most prominent roadblock from all of Alyx and his pilgrimages to the dungeon. They were everywhere in Rota's life. If he had to wear/ fight one god-beast, it would have to be a Boar. There was no alternative. So it was written, so it shall be.

He looked around his miniature armory while he worked and marveled at just how complete it was. He was amazed he had been able to get everything he wanted from the tinkerer. Boy, was that a boss fight. it was his first outing as a living geyser of flame. That hadn't been long ago, but in a way, it felt like its own era. Fledgling fire spewer not knowing how to properly use his own flame. In a way, he was still in that state. he often played an ace when a two would do just fine, but how else was he supposed to get better with it? if he only used it when most convenient, then he wouldn't have nearly the knowledge of when NOT to use it (right away, against unborn, against Tarud, etc.) Hell, now his inner fire could become a fire AURA around him on top of everything else. He couldn't wait to see the look on Alyx's face the first time he busted that particular trick out.

Thinking on which, he couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he unveiled his latest variation on Abyssian. This plan had been in the works behind the scenes for a good long while.despite this, he could feel both him and Abyssian being anxious about this. Neither of them knew how things were going to turn out. Maybe even all of this preparation work wouldn't be enough to give Abyssian enough of a presence to supercede the Demon Greatsword in influence. maybe, this was all for nought. he could still feel the confidence in the clawing of that cursed sword on his mind. It knew the plan well. it could read his mind. It knew how much Rota wanted to dominate its voice in his head with one greater. But the sword had no doubts on which voice was superior. Rota supposed that that was REALLY how it was related to him. Neither took a challenge sitting down or meekly. Any challenge was to be met with 100% effort and further. That was the Rota Emptiet Abyssian way. That was why his mantra was 'Underestimate me at your peril.' He was in the business of proving anyone and everyone wrong, including himself. no matter where, no matter when, expectations were to be shattered. here was no different.

There would be some who would call him insane for undertaking a project of this magnitude. As he had said before, there were ARMIES he could support with the sheer amout of sword he had just forged. and yet all of them were going into one singular blade. A blade that would have the strength of an army. That was the Rota way. He needn't have an army. if he and Alyx were ever separated, he needed to be an Army of One just like before. He almost felt bad for his brother in arms. Alyxandeyr would have a lot of catching up to do after this one. This was less Rota taking the lead and more of him lapping Alyx several times over and maintaining the same spatial distance behind him. It was almost an insult to someone he considered a brother-in-arms.He would help him catch up, there was no doubt in his mind. All there was left was to finish prepping the swords, fuse the boar swords, and then put all of those into Abyssian. he was disgustingly close. Every pound of the hammer was a step closer to an achieveable goal. it could be done! it WOULD be done! he would see this project to the end if it destroyed the known cosmos with it!

Despite all of his bravado, he still couldn't help but think about what Player had dug out of his skull. He didn't give up every memory to that cretin, just the basics to sate his appetite. The one thing he wished he HAD faked though was the loss of memory regarding Rosalia, his mother. Such a figure that should be seared into his mind for all eternity just GONE. He couldn't dwell on it. it would negatively affect his workmanship. he instead chose to focus on a memory of Daryst.

Daryst had come to our home, wearing very light grey pants and a light grey vest with no shirt underneath. Despite his age, one could easily nestle fingers inbetween the ridges of his abs. Part of that had to be his Demon nature. The other part being the obsessive nature of the Abyssian clan to do what they did better than anyone could challenge. For Daryst that meant that he had to (in the past) defend the King, His brother Querca, better than anyone could try to kill him. This also meant that same mentality applied to defending the reigning Queen Ulona, his daughter. Woe to the who tried their hand at that. Not only was Ulona a threat in and of herself, but now they had to contend with a High Royal Guardsman who also happened to be the parent of the current royalty. Daryst had been fierce when it was his BROTHER on the throne, according to his stories. I did NOT want to imagine the level of raw pain an angry FATHER Guardsman could dish out. If it was anything like what Rolia had done when he brutalized those bandits, he feared for the safety of anyone who tried their luck. draped across Daryst's shoulders was a forest green scarf that he had always worn with him no matter what the weather was like. it was never even wrapped around his neck in cold weather, it was always just at rest no matter what. I could never grasp why, but apparently Daryst was just that good.

Anyways, Daryst had come for a visit on this rare occasion. Due to being a Guardsman, let alone the High Guardsman, he rarely let himself take breaks due to the aforementioned obsessive tendencies. When he did have to take a break, it was generally under duress from Aunt Ulona to give her some space and for him to clear his mind. The latter never worked out, but at least the former was a good excuse. Daryst came to the door, his face beaming from ear to ear as he looked at Violet, Garrett, and Me. He always said that he adored being around his Granchildren, that we were one of the things that made him feel like a young man again. He just wished that their Aunt would give them cousins to compete with. This always got a chuckle out of Rolia. Dad always said that the moment Ulona settled down would be a shock to everyone, herself included. Aunt Ulona was always engrossed in her duties. She took being Queen very seriously and would metaphorically and literally crush any opinions that she was an unreliable ruler. We all have our obsessions, hers was merely politics. As such, spending time with her was as much of an undertaking as spending time with Daryst. All the same, we cherished what time we got to spend with family, and no matter how we teased, we all loved eachother dearly.

This visit was of a very different nature than usual. As much as Grandpa wanted to spend time and talk pleasentries, he had an important message from the Queen. Turns out, she WAS in fact pregnant, a fact which dropped my father's jaw pretty hard. Mine too, to be honest. Violet and I were 11 at the time, Garrett 6. Violet and I knew all well the kind of personality Aunt Ulona had at this point, and settling down NEVER seemed to be on her priorities list. It almost seemed like a chore to her to do, just one more thing to get in her way. Dad asked how far along she was, and Daryst said that she was very close.

We packed what we could and left as soon as possible towards the palace. The trip was long and winding. It was a wonder that Daryst came all this way just to see them all the time. While the trip itself wasn't unfamiliar to us, I mean we HAD been in the palace before, but the circumstances were never like this. Surprisingly, the trip was relatively silent. Not one of us said much of anything, including Garrett. That surprised me since if anyone was going to speak up, it would have been him. I guess the mood in the air just told him everything he needed to know for the moment. Something about this was off
. In any case, we got to the palace, and I met one of my favorite butlers at the gate, Berlaic. The man had always been a strong confidant to me. he always had an air of sophisitcation about him, but was still able to speak on my level. I confided a lot in him, and he gave me a lot of good advice. Today he seemed off as he looked pretty stressed out about something. To many, it wouldn't have been visible, but to someone who knew him as much as I did, he was hiding something. Despite that, he still smiled and greeted me and my family at the gate, happy to see us back. The palace gardens were lavish and lush with life. rare plants that one would have to cross oceans to find mingled with fauna that was not used to such pleasures. There were giant treefolk allowing themselves to be maintained into living topiaries, the latest one being a massive dragon. The sights and sounds were always breathtaking. While he didn;t think he would ever want to LIVE there, it was always fun to visit.

They went inside and passed multiple stained-glass windows, all detailing some point in the history of the Abyssian line. I kept telling myself that I would be one of those windows one day.I hope one day I will manage it. Besting the tower would cetainly do it.Once to Aunt Ulona's chambers, only Dad and Grandpa were allowed inside. The staff would watch over us until they were done talking. Violet, Garrett, and I decided to part ways for a while and just spend some alone time. Berlaic, as usual, was my escort through the place. We went to a sitting room I was fond of to relax. it had some of the comfiest chairs in the whole palace, and contained a giant mural of war heroes in resplendent armor. My favorite was the one on the far right edge of the work. The man shouldered a greatsword in battle scarred, plain looking armor. He didn't need to look lavish, he wasn't even the most heavily armored of the group. He just needed to be the hero that people saw him as.

After looking at the picture for a customary minute or so, Berlaic managed to pull a silver serving tray from somewhere which produced a healthy selsction of toast, a stick of butter, and honey. This was a special treat both of us shared on our alone times together. I tore into my first slice with a degree of zeal, always loving the exotic honeys the palace had access to, but noticed that Berlaic had barely touched his. When I asked him about how he was doing, I heard the deepest sigh I had ever heard from the man. This pregnancy matter had evidently been weighing on everyone for a while.

he wasn't supposed to tell me, but I managed to get out of him that despite her public appearence, Ulona had been courting a man for some time. She had been completely head over heels for him, and it seemed like he had felt the same way. She had already put plans of engagement and otherwise in the works. however, after the night the child was conceived, the man disappeared without a trace. Nothing was stolen, no note, no way of finding him. The current running theory was that he had done all of this so he could get himself an heir to some obscure royal bloodline, but if that were the case he could have just stuck around and been guaranteed nobility through marriage. it was an enigma at barest minimum. Ulona didn't know what to do with herself for months after he left, and then knew even less once she knew she was pregnant with his child. Doubts ran though her mind as of late, and while she was still able to keep up a bold front politically, it was mostly through letters and the like. She didn't have the courage to stand in front of people like she was now. She had felt so used for so long. It disturbed me. I began to pick at my own toast as Berlaic did, and I finally understood why. it wasn't a joyful snack between friends, it was a coping mechanism. It took the sting off of a grim situation.

Hours later Aunt Ulona went into labor. a day later she had two boys named Yonac and Fahren, and a girl named Merbys. Triplets. Ye gods that woman was something else. Few could have three children and then talk as she did afterward. They were half-demons, but the other race was unknown. all I knew is that they developed FAST. in five years they were all as tall as I was when they were born, and just as developed. Merbys had her Mother's eyes, save for her pupils. her pupils were a soft bergundy. The family gene had passed down to her through a recessive generation. This had apparently never happened before where two siblings had children that both carried the colored pupil gene. The extended family apparently didn't know how to take it, but Merbys and I didn't care. We bonded over it quick, her sharing a lot of my same interests. The princes and princesses were allowed to visit a lot more than Ulona ever did, and while they had liasons, they could practically roam free.

Merbys and I ended up sparring a lot growing up. I never met somene as good with a spear as she was. woe to anyone who got in HER way. Her hair was a grand scarlet, and her skin was fair but faintly greyish. In fact, the triplets were all a little greyish. Despite the red hair, Merbys wore a lot of blues. She would often wear a formal robe for public appearences on top of a more combat oriented robe. she liked her hair long, but had one braid in the middle of it for style. That one would definitely catch some eyes in her later years, I could already tell. Merbys seemed to be the most outgoing of all of the triplets.

Yonac was passionate, yet reserved. he would be calm most of the time, but he was easy to rile up with teasing, or he could get really excited about a topic he knew a lot about. he was a studious one. The boy was rail-thin, no matter how much he ate, had an orange bowl cut and Yellow human-like eyes. for some weird reason he was the only one of the triplets who had round pupils. Yonac was a big fan of earthen tans and browns, not seeing reason for bright flashy colors. Surprisingly, he and Garrett got along amazingly.

Faren was the most grey of the three, and the most meek. he didn't really speak up, even if he had something to say, and would only get into an activity if he REALLY wanted to do so, mostly preferring to watch. His hair was auburn with one yellow eye, the other blue. Despite his crippling shyness to everyone including family, he was an amazing preson once you managed to open him up a bit. Violet and him seemed to get along the most, she being one of the few people who could pull him out of his shell. Violet was never one to really take 'no' for an answer.

Rota's mind was getting fuzzy. he had really delved deep into his memories there. for now he had hit a wall that he didn't think would be overcome. he had managed to follow one thread to the entire rug that was his mind. he wondered what other secrets lied beneath if he pressed onward? only one way to find out.

Rota was watching his father smelt for the hundredth time, talking the same stuff he always talked about. Cool ingots this, maintain temperature that, blah, blah, phooey. his father should have long since known what his main passion in life was going to be. Out in the wilderness with only a sword and his most trusted men by his side defending the weak and defenseless. Now THAT was a future. Maybe seek his own fortune, his OWN kingdom. His own- "SON!" Rolia roared. That snapped Rota back to the world of reality. "I need you to pay attention to this! You've been slacking off on your studies to practice futzing about with your sword again! I told you I would humor this only as long as you didn't lose track of your studies. Well, we're here now. Pop quiz, daydreamer, look at what I've done and tell me either if I've done it wrong or what the next step is."

Rota sighed as he got up and looked at the forge. There was ore in the smelting cup, and coal was there as well. The metal was a sort that needed a lot of heat to get working, but there was both not enough coals to reach that heat threshold, AND they weren't glowing nearly enough for them to even try. "You've managed both, somehow. The next step is correcting a mistake While there is ore in the smelting cup, you don't have even half as many coals in there as you need to reach melting point. On top of that, even if there were enough coals, the heat is too weak. This will never melt that ore."

Rolia sauntered over to the coal dispenser they had rigged to alleviate mess, and added more fuel to the fire. He then grabbed a set of bellows and tended the coals, making them burn hotter. Rolia turned to Rota a stern look on his face. "Correct. You have real talent, son. Why don't you apply it?"

Rota shook his head. "Are we really having this conversation again right now? Isn't three times enough for you to understand?"

Rolia sat on a stool, face never changing. "I don't know. I want to support you, I really do. It's just that the path you're choosing to walk is not as glamourous as you make it out to be. It's cold nights, the expectation that death could happen at any moment, tedium beyond your wildest dreams, and a want for equipment. Fighting for your equipment is not always viable. You're going to need to be able to make your own if you want to stay alive."

Rota spun on his father "and?! You think I haven't thought that through?! It's why I listened to your lectures and teachings for the longest time because I KNEW I would need them! I only started becoming apathetic when you stopped giving me lessons because I wanted to learn, and started giving me busywork to distract me from my OWN goals!"

Rolia's face darkened. Rota had never spoken to him so bluntly before. Rota wasn't sorry though. it had been weighing on his soul for longer than he cared to admit. Now was merely the moment that broke the camel's back. "I keep hearing stories about how everyone in our family chooses their own destiny in life, how it is not only the way of demons but also the way of the Abyssian Lineage. You yourself chose your own destiny against what Grandpa Daryst wanted for you. I can respect that you want me to be different, you want me to buck that trend and defy peoples expectations for what a demon can do. But that's too easy of a solution, Dad. people EXPECT me to defy that trend and follow directly in your footsteps. the only way I can Defy their expectations is to defy the defiance. The only way to win is not to play."

Rolia looked at his son, with a mix of indignation and disappointment in his eyes. "You have no idea the opportunities you're throwing away."

Rota was not content to take that sitting down. "Just like the opportunity, YOU threw away when you refused to be King or a guardsman?!"

A fire was lighting up in Rolia's eyes "If I had taken it, maybe I would have had a son who actually listened for a change!"

The fires burned deep in Rota's soul as well "Excellent! Maybe THAT dad would actually LISTEN!"

Rolia couldn't stand it anymore and he balled up his fist in rage. he raised it high and brought it down on an anvil nearby, and a thunderous crack was heard. Rolia and Rota stood tall looking at eachother, bith taking heaving breaths in rage as a split in half anvil laid between them. Rolia took a water barrel and doused the coals, leaving the forgehouse in a shadow. Rota stood in place the whole time, his chest rising and falling as the adrenaline pumped through his body. he heard a faint knock on the frame of the door. Rota spun in anger but softened when he saw Berlaic standing there with a picnic basket. "Berlaic! What are you doing here?"

The wizened old man smiled softly, "Well if you must know, the royal triplets are coming for a visit, Queen Ulona included. They decided to send me two days ahead to warn all of you." he lightly shook the basket back and forth. "I figured I would need a peace offering." Despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Rota couldn't help but smile. he nodded and the two friends across age barriers went off towards a park to enjoy their favorite snack. This time it was Rota who was slower to dig in, and of course Berlaic noticed. "What seems to be troubling you, Master Rota?"

It was also Rota's turn to sigh as it seemed. "Dad and I fought again. This one was pretty bad. I'm sure you can guess the topic."

Berlaic nodded as he keenly took a dainty bite of honeyed toast. "Indeed. though I'm sure even the Queen heard that particular fight."

Rota flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah. You heard that one, eh?"

The Butler nodded again. "Yes, unfortunately. I literally couldn't help but overhear, but I tried to respect your mutual privacy as much as I could. That is why I allowed things to die down before I made my presence known."

Rota smiled as he took a healthy bite of toast. "You're a real class act."

Berlaic smiled "Well I certainly try to be, despite a certain youth's corrupting ways."

Rota got a chuckle out of that as he was able to finish his first slice finally. He thought for a bit before asking, "You said that Dad and Grandpa used to fight about what Dad was doing with his life, right?" Berlaic nodded, so Rota continued. "Did it ever get...THAT bad?"

Berlaic sat wiping down his uniform, hands, and mouth with a handkerchief. "We had to rennovate a room that they had a disagreement in once. Neither of them had touched the other out of respect, but they destroyed everything else around them to vent their anger. Master Rolia inherited much from Master Daryst. Master Daryst and King Talinth never fought like that."

Rota's face could help to show how puzzled he was. "Talinth? I thought the previous King was Uncle Querca?"

Berlaic took a keen bite of toast again. "That is correct, Master Rota. However you forget the context of our conversation. King Talinth was Master Daryst's father." Rota mulled over that thought. he had never been told anything about his Great-Grandfather. Neither Daryst nor Rolia had ever mentioned him. Berlaic spoke again after letting Rota digest his thoughts a bit. "King Talinth was a decent man. he ruled to the best of his ability. He was not loved by all, but he had enough sway polotically to have power. Part of the reason King Talinth wanted Master Daryst to succeed him was that he felt having a strong leader was what was needed. Master Daryst agreed, but only in the sense that that strength was more in the camp of logic and reason, rather than brute force. That was when he suggested Master Querca for the deed. King Talinth was surprised, but he accepted Daryst's logic. That is why he named Master Querca as his successor. In exchange, master Daryst agreed to be commander of the Royal Guard to protect his lord-and-brother with his life."

Rota's eyes were bulging by the end of that. "How is it you know so much about our family history Berlaic?"

Berlaic almost looked proud for a second as he said, "When you have lived since time immemorial, you pick up a few chunks of knowledge."

Rota chuckled and left it at that. The fledgling Demon couldn't help his mind going back to the argument, though. "What do you think I should do, Berlaic? You're far wiser than I."

Berlaic seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment, almost choosing his words syllable by syllable. "Master Rota, I cannot dictate your life for you any more than Master Rolia can. Only you can choose your path in life. You must go with what your heart tells you to do. If you become a Warrior, it will be a difficult path to walk, but Master Rolia will eventually come around just as Master Daryst did before him. The path of the Blacksmith is a safer one in the way of life expectancy, but it is also not without hardship. It is all what YOU think you can handle."

Rota mulled over that statement for a while, before reaching a conclusion. "Why not both? Why can't I be a Warrior Blacksmith?" Berlaic shook his head. "A young wolf who chases two rabbits at the same time catches neither. You must choose ONE path to walk down. No more, no less."

Rota's face grew more serious. "Do you doubt me, Berlaic?" The aged butler tensed momentarily, but not for very long. "No, Master Rota. I will never do that. I am merely saying that there will be those who DO. If you walk this path there will be those who doubt your abilities in either camp, seeing your forging as wasting sword practice time which in turns makes you weaker, or seeing your swordsmanship practice as a distractor from you Blacksmithing which means less quality product. The path you speak of is not impossible, Master Rota, but it will be exceptionally difficult."

Rota thought long and hard about those words before finally answering. "I'll start with being a warrior. if I need to forge weapons or armor then I'll make it then. I probably won't do much of it, but it's nice to have that skill just in case."

Berlaic slowly nodded. "If that is what you wish, then seek it out with everything you are. let no one tell you differently. never give up." Rota smiled and nodded, finishing off his slice of toast and then starting on another. The two friends didn't talk for a long while after that, they just sat and watched the universe go by. Rota cherished these times with Berlaic. he knew that he was someone he could trust no matter what. There was no secret he could tell him that Berlaic would ever divulge, though if it was life-or-death that may change things. Berlaic knew the kinds of secrets that could destroy his ties with the family, or at bare minimum weaken them. It amazed him how little he knew about his friend.

They had sat for around an hour before they went back. Berlaic announced himself to Rolia and the rest of the family and parroted his purpose. Rolia was shocked, but understood. The family spent the rest of the day cleaning and making sure the place was acceptable for guests. Berlaic was a wonder at that. Watching him clean was a marvel of efficiecy and speed. He had ways of getting into nooks and crannies that no one else could find a way to clean. With his assistence the entire 6 bedroom 3 bath manor was spotless within a few hours. When the Rota, Violet, and Garrett marveled at this, Berlaic merely chuckled and said that he maintained an entire palace for a living. Cleaning a Manor was nothing.

They ate a handsome meal that Berlaic insisted on preparing that night, and generally, Rota and Rolia avoided direct conversation, letting each-other stew a bit. Garrett still managed to bridge that gap between them being the cult of personality that he is and kept the mood light instead of uncomfortable /awkward.

Rota snapped back to reality again, mouth-first in a mug of Eggnog. How long had he been letting his body just auto-pilot? Too long. His body had already begun work in feeding swords into Abyssian at this point. The Legend Boar Swords were all merged, so this was the final step. The Demon Artisan almost started to quake with anticipation. Abyssian had not been fully absorbing the light gained from fusing seemingly to save it all for one big inhale at the end. So with each successive sword fed to Abyssian, the green glow of the shards magnified more and more. The entire room was being bathed in a vibrant emerald green light. He wondered if he should be on the lookout for men behind curtains it was so all encompassing. 14 Eggnogs were to be consumed during this. Lesser men would explode, but fortunately Rota was no ordinary man. Even so, his will would have forced him to press on because he would be damned if he was going to let a minor physical limitation get in the way of perfection.

Rota thought about what came after this and was still nervous. His new technique WAS working, but he didn't know how well. He didn't have the time to stop and inspect every sword before and after since he was on a bit of a time crunch. Through the player he had been informed that an update to the world was coming, and it would drastically change the way that fusing weapons worked. It almost seemed to be in direct response to Rota's Blacksmithing, as neither of them could imagine anyone else prompting such a response.

The obsessive tendencies in the Abyssian Lineage were STRONG in Rota. Maybe Rosalia had been bull-headed too, and that's why he seemed significantly more determined than the other Abyssians? he got a double-dose of it. In any case, it meant that Rota had to work FAST to get this project done before that update hit, and there was no telling when it would. he would just wake up one day and the world would be imperceptively different in this very miniscule way. He wouldn't even find out about it until he tried to fuse something and the results would be different. It was a spooky thought, but the Admins/Gods had that power so he merely needed to out-pace them. He could beat them at their own game. Especially with this sword. Rota had wanted to challenge the gods to sport very early on, just to see how he measured up. No death, no hurt feelings, just a friendly spar. They had denied at the time, and while he HAD been cross with that decision, he hadn't been told NO, just not YET. Now that he had this sword...he might be able to kill one by sheer accident.

This was going to be one sword with the weight of an entire ARMY behind it. Two and a half (plus change) Score swords in one sword. AT ONCE. This was the kind of upgrading a single sword might get in its entire lifetime as a family heirloom. Not like THIS. Hell, if he counted Kristoffer's sword and the upgrades he gave THAT before feeding it to Abyssian II at the time, he would easily have three score swords in Abyssian. it was insanity what the Demon Artisan was achieving. he wondered what form the blade would take after this session ceased. It always seemed that after a big session like this, it would metamorphosize Abyssian a bit, being quenched in demon blood. It was a surreal experience for a Blacksmith to experience, but it was also a point of pride. His skill was so good that the sword itself acknowledged that its current form wasn't enough to properly contain its power.

He had to carry on, drinking and smithing. it was all he could do to stay ahead of the update that would force him to be a worse quality smith. Bah, enough of that. He was always going to be the best. no question. The better question was what this weapon would be USED for. Well, being a living blade meant that Abyssin would have the power to restrain the Demon Iron Greatsword. That in and of itself was worth doing this. he didn't need that catalyst for glitches. This sword would also free the girl trapped in the Hallow Dungeon. Far too long that poor girl had been trapped in there. It was time to level that place after being thoroughly trounced the last time the brothers in arms had been there. The Hag had said that she was gaining power by the second. She would be a force to be reckoned with if that were the case. That said, this blade by itself would be able to destroy such a creature without breaking a sweat. Rota was far more prepared this time. He had fought and killed GODS. he knew how to conserve his energy. He had a means of healing in the form of Croire. This dungeon meant NOTHING to him. Somewhere while he was forging, Little one left. he had no idea where he went. if his suspicions were correct, the little guy had gone off and started mining Gods knows when. He had been so caught up in his work that his favorite (read ONLY) son had gone off and started doing work. It would mean a Bevvy of materials would be coming his way the next time he looked, and that was something altogether new to be excited about. It meant that he would, if he really felt like it, be able to forge post this without much fear of loss. he was still open to making a melee weapon for a new adventurer, so this would give him that availability.

Oh once someone took him up on that offer...they would have a sword that people would sell their SOULS to obtain. It was exhilarating in that way. Not only was he ensuring that He himself would be spoken of in legends, but there would be someone else whose own story would be in thanks to HIM. It was a double whammy. he had never attempted to make any other weapon besides a sword, but he had done it in the past and they weren't too hard to grasp. Especially hammers. Glorified Bricks on a stick. Sure, some had jagged points to crush and flay bones, basically aggressively tenderizing all that stood before them, but there was just such an elegance to the sword
that couldn't be matched by other weapons. The closest to it in his eyes was a spear/Scythe. Those weapons in the right hands were windmills of carnage spraying gore and intent through a battlefield. Merbys had proven that to him. If someone asked him to make a spear...he wouldn't mind too much. Bows were right out. Those were for woodworkers. Even if they weren't, Rota had no truck for ranged weaponry. he preferred a fight up close and personal. While he had respect for those who could call themselves Archers and do it well, he couldn't promote it himself. it just wasn't NATURAL, ya know? Axes were semi-brutish, but less so than Hammers. Axes were visceral, yet lacked the elegance that a sword had. There were less options for an Axe.

Back on topic, Abyssian was going to clean shop in this world. The Goldenwood, whatever the hell it was, wouldn't know what hit it when the demonic radience from Abyssian crashed through their world. Rota still wondered what opening that door had done to whomever may have lived there. In any case, next to go if he decided to show his stupid face was Tarud. He still had a bone to pick with that one ever since their fight ended in a "draw". Rota had forced the coward to flee last time. This time he was ready to decapitate the false demon hacker and show him what a REAL demon was like. Then would be Gizano. He had killed adventurers for trying to help someone in need. That would not stand with the Demon Warrior. Him hiding his true potential was to Rota's benefit. If he saw him all he would need to do would be spin once. if he was making himself so weak as to be seemingly menaced by a Boar, then one strike would EVICERATE the murderer AND the thing he was using as his facade.

That was tyhe easier of the two fights. Tarud was still going to be a problem. if he knew how to read people at all, he could tell that Tarud was not merely hiding out somewhere licking his wounds. he was preparing to get revenge on the one that got away. Rota had made him flee, something he had never had to do before. That would stick in someone's mind and fester into obsession quickly. Rota knew that feeling well. He had that feeling about the Hallow Dungeon. it would not be purged from his psyche until it had been bested. no sooner, no later. However Rota had the means and a punishingly green beatstick now, so it made his task all the easier. All he needed to do was finish his plan.

He was almost done. The anticipation killed the Demon Artisan as he drained his last tankard of Eggnog. It was time to start ending this. He beat furiously on the next sword in line as thoughts of Tarud entered his mind. Abyssian obsession was a double edged sword. While he was sure Tarud was thinking of him as the one who escaped death, Rota thought of HIM the exact same way. His previous fight with a hacker had been Achan Crow. That pitiful excuse for a fighter had thought himeslf a god just because he could vaguely tap into their powers. Feh. Rota had killed beings FAR greater than that wretch ever since. he didn't even rate highly on his top fights anymore. The only memento of that fight was the crow necklace he still kept just in case. it might come in handy should Tarud crawl out from whatever hole he was hiding in.

Rota also couldn't help but think of the iron Brotherhood. it had been seemingly AGES since they contacted him last. he wondered if he would even need to pass a test this time. All he would have to do is lay this latest blade on their table and they would be able to see the workmanship in it. If not, then he would still pass with flying colors. he had passed last time by the seed of his own ability. This time he would use all the tools at his disposal. If they truly wanted to see what he was capable of, they would see it. Rota smiled as he thought of the looks on their faces when he would show them how far he had progressed since they last spoke. They had already not expected him to put out the quality that he did when they first contacted him. Now he was making ingots on such a heightened scale that not even HE was sure how high he could ascend Was there more beyond a Master's Innate Iron Ingot, let alone an Alchemical one?

Having Alchemist's Silver in an Ingot was just an enhancement, it didn't come with the ingot. Rota took a quick look at ingots he had made before this, and even being of good quality they sickened him all of a sudden. he had ascended to such a height that even some of the best ingots he had been able to make at the time seemed like they were teeming with imperfections now, despite knowing full well that they were ingots that could be highly sought out and exceedingly useful in the proper hands. The demon Artisan remembered when he continuously broke the scales of what he thought possible in smithing. Seems those days never left. Rota brought Abyssian down on the Final sword, the green shards being absorbed into the ******** green blade. All of a sudden, the light was sucked into the blade, and it grew dim. It was time for the plan to reach fruition.

((third 20))

((Fusing together Neo Abyssian and The Demon Iron Greatsword with the Eye of Twilight into Abyssian(Schism) per current level of refine Weapon. Then Fusing the Legendary Golden Boar Sword to Abyssian(Schism). Eggnog applies to both fusions from last post as there were two rounds left.))

It was finally time. The moment that Rota had been building to this entire time. Neo Abyssian SURGED with energy. He hadn't fully evaluated it just yet, but he was damn certain every fusion had gone off without a hitch, even for the Boar swords. Perfect fusions, that was what mattered here. The fusions had to have been lossless to give Neo Abyssian the best shot. Rota's heart sank as he knew what he had to do next. He didn't like it, but it was a necessary evil. Rota placed Neo Abyssian lovingly onto the anvil and grabbed his hammer. "I know this will hurt, but if this didn't NEED to happen, it wouldn't be happening." The Demon Artisan felt a tug on his mind

It's okay. I'll help you tame this savage blade. as long as you believe in me, there is nothing we can't do.

Rota nodded as he brought his hammer down on his beloved sword, causing black shards of light to erupt from the blade. Rota hated part of himself for this, and every instinct told him to stop, but his hammer kept swinging and letting black light pour into the room. He could hear laughter in the back of his mind. The Demon Greatsword. It thought it was being fed its biggest competitor, now made even fatter. Rota ignored it. It would have its time. Every strike made micro fractures in the blade, all leaking shafts of light as the power deep inside cloyed for freedom from the immortal shell of the legendary blade. Images of all his successes with Abyssian in all forms poured through his mind as he set himself to destroy the very tool that helped him get to this point. Protecting Little One, Killing Achan, Defeating the Demon Blacksmith, Slaughtering the Festive Juggernaut, so many moments to list, so little time he had left with his truest son. making a sword in the manner he had meant that this blade was family to him. And he was destroying it. It hurt his soul.

Tears fell onto the blade with every successive strike of the hammer. The blade had become significantly harder to destroy thanks to all of the fodder from just now. it would have been a marvelous blade, but it was time to say goodbye. Rota pulled back the hammer for one last time and brought it down on Abyssian. Light and force of will were all that held it together now. Rota walked over to where the Demon Iron Greatsword rested and the laughter increased with each step towards its greatest rival. With a heavy heart, Rota lifted The sword high above his head, readying to bear down on Abyssian. he adjusted the blade so he would cut it lengthwise...

...and slammed the Demon Greatsword onto the anvil itself laying flat up. The Laughing slowed, not knowing what was going on. Then Rota began to beat the Sword with his hammer and the laughter turned to screams of unintelligible rage. However, the laughing WAS replaced. This time by Abyssian and Rota themselves. They had to trick the Demon Greatsword. It couldn't know what was going on before it was too late. As it tried to wrest control over Rota's mind, Abyssin held it back while his master beat the Greatsword furiously. Time was of the essence here, and the blade was durable to the point of ludicrousy. Shafts of Red Light seeped from the multitude of cracks, flashing black occasionally. Unsurprisingly, the blade was unwilling to let itself be on the giving end of a fusion. Luckily, this was not a factor any longer. Rota had learned a technique to fuse swords with each other simultaneously, making a brand new blade from the shattered remnants of both subjects. All he needed to do was pull it off now. With a mighty roar, Rota beat the Demon Greatsword within an inch of its life. Shards of light cumulated in the air around the whole room, Red shards from the Demon Greatsword, Black from Abyssian. Rota took a brief moment to prepare the Boar Greatsword for fusion as well while he composed himself. he would need all the focus he could get from this. Rota focused. The last time he had done this had been on accident. Now was time to do this on purpose.


The Player readied himself. The moment had arrived. He took a deep breath as an error banner flashed across his vision and Rota began jittering out of control. The jittering afterimage caused Rota to grab both swords, one holding the Demon greatsword the other Abyssian, by the hilt and face himself. Then both Rotas Hefted their respective swords backward and Clashed blades with a distorted and mighty roar.

When both blades met, they both snapped in half at the same time and burst into a biblical swarm of shards of light. Working fast, Rota threw the Heart of Twilight up towards the center of the ceiling and roared at the top of his lungs "Heart of Twilight! Bring these two beings together!" The orb began to draw in shards like a black hole absorbs a galaxy, swirls of Black and Red spiraling around the Heart. Lightning began to spark across the room as figures of light began to grapple within the light storm. They went at it furiously, each trying to bend the other to their will but neither giving in. Rota stood at the center, knowing his role all too well. He looked directly at the Heart and roared "BREATH OF THE BLACKSMITH!!!!" A veritable GEYSER of flame burst from his throat and struck the eye dead center. This permeated the flames throughout the whole storm, lightning descending faster than before. Rota tried to stop the flames rushing from his body, but it refused. it was as if his very soul was being sucked out of his body. The pain was unimaginable, but he stuck through it. The figures fought furiously as Rota forcibly cut himself off from the fire and reached into the center of the storm. Shards coalesced into a resplendent hilt and cross guard with the Heart lodged within the center. There were five grey dots on each side of the crossguard, and in the Heart if you looked close you could very faintly see a demonic claw clutching a rippling ball of fire. There was a two-foot long jagged blade that came off the crossguard, almost as if someone had broken it.

Rota braced himself as he jammed the entire blade into his chest and out his back to Croire's horror "THE BLOOD OF THE WARRIOR!!!!!" Rota began pulling the blade out of his chest and light flooded to the jagged end, actively forming the blade as it was being pulled through of his body like a grim sheath. The pain was unreal. Every new section of blade was Black Hot from the fire swirling with the shards of light. By the end of his draw, inch by bloody inch, Rota had pulled the eight-foot sword out of his chest. With the last of his strength he hefted the newly forged blade and brought it down on the Boar Blade, shattering it instantly and the light being pulled to the blade like an electromagnet sucks in iron filings.

Rota took ragged breaths as he looked at his blade. The outer edge of the blade was silver with Damascus-like ripples of blood red mixed in. the closer to the hilt you got, the more the blade resembled a burning flame with its serration. The epicenter of the flame design, generally where the flame burns the hottest, was black with red ripples through it like the outer edge. The hilt now sported a red dot on the outermost edge of the lines of five, showing that Bleed Damage was now absorbed into the Heart of Twilight. looking at the Heart of Twilight, the once peaceful ebbing galaxy was now a swirl of Red and Black with two eyes looking at him. Both of the consciousnesses had survived the exchange, but who was the more dominant? Rota searched his mind, and only one thing came back:

It worked. I am in majority control now. We are Abyssian!

Rota promptly passed out due to fatigue, trauma, and elation.

((crafting a monochrome lucent stone,

Room 4: +5 lightforge

Lightsmith Arte: monochrome lucent stone
Using an uncharged lucent stone and any number of motes of light of the same color, one can create a lucent stone with the power of that color at a level 1 lightforge.

uncharged lucent stone: 1
blue motes of light: 10))

Name: Hemlocke
Level: 5
HP:100|
AP: 5
Lucent Sapphire: 0/40
red1: 0/10
DReG: 0/22

Hemlocke had unfortunately botched her previous recipe somehow. It was nowhere near as awe-inspiring as it could have been, but it was still incredibly useful. Being able to stack protective effects on herself and her teammates allowed Hemlocke to more effectively be everywhere at once. She could protect herself and her friends now, if only a little. Of course, if you stacked a few of those effects on yourself and took a hit, you could really mess up someone who attacked you. Or stack a lightcast and and auracast on someone, and watch the spell deflect the attack while simultaneously countering. It would have been great to have gotten a better product, but she would definitely be able to work with what she'd gotten, no problems.

Now, she decided that she should work on an alternative blue stone. One that wasn't quite so taxing. If she was going to be running around with Anna-mia, having a rapid-fire friendship spell was almost a necessity.

So Hemlocke prepared her next formula, settling for something easy this time. She drew ten blue motes of light and placed them into the reservoir, placing a single uncharged lucent stone into the forge and tweaking the settings so as to avoid a repeat of that last experiment's results. She opened the floodgates and watched as the forge came to life, focusing and guiding the beam until it had come to settle in the stone.

Taking a cautious breath, Hemlocke lifted the stone to inspect it.

((Roleplay 1))

Rota woke up on the floor of the forgehouse in a sweat...cold or otherwise was of no consequence to him. Every synapse in his body hurt, but more than his muscles and joints hurting from the strain of making an entire armory in one go and then cramming all of that into one sword, his chest hurt most of all. There was a massive vertical scar in the center of his chest. The difference between this scar and the rest of the scars in the world was that this particular scar was black. It was not a burned black, but more of an empty black. The pain from this one wound enveloped his mind, directing all thoughts to it and it alone. His worn out muscles tried to seize in response, to curl up and return to something primal to help soothe that agony, but their feebleness was only enough to tense up and nothing more.

As the warrior tried to focus on literally anything else, he was presented with two things: 1, the world was a faint green in tint. 2, Abyssian was propped against the anvil in the room. he decided to focus on the green first. The tint was coming from Croire, who had tears streaming down her face. Rota tried to speak, but it only came out as a weak, rough whisper. Still impressive for someone who punctured his sternum, heart, spine, and tried to burn his lungs to a crisp. "Hey...now. Enough...of...that." The tiny Faerie's eys welled up more as she put on a stern face and kept bathing Rota in green light. "Y.you died." This gave the Demon Artisan some pause. Croire continued. "It w.was just for a few seconds, b.but you died. You almost crumbled to shards." There was an intense pain in Rota's right shoulder as he felt an inorganic hand place itself upon it. Despite not being able to move his head from the position it was in due to his neck completely surging with pain from the intensity of the fire that had gushed from it, he knew it was Little One checking in on him and showing concern. It was a miracle he had been able to speak at all for the blood and the ash. Rota winced as he tried to continue talking. "I...knew...you...could...do it." Croire shook her head and her long lond hair became more disheveled than it already was due to stress. "This wasn't my doing. Abyssian saved you. I'm just trying to keep you stable"

Rota no longer knew what to think. He knew the fusion had worked as intended. The Demon Iron Greatsword had fused with Abyssian perfectly, putting Abyssian in majority control of their shared vessel. He no longer felt the Demon Sword's clawing at the back of his mind. But now he had learned that he and his blade had become inextricably linked. he needed to talk to Abyssian as soon as possible. That meant getting up. He tried; by god he tried. But in the end two things held him down: his enfeeblement, and Little One. His children would not let him endanger himself any longer, it would seem. "You need to rest, Master Rota. I will not risk losing you again. If you get up too soon, you'll reopen every wound at once and kill yourself again. I don't think we'll be able to bring you back from that if it happens again."

Rota tried, in vain to shake his head, but the attempt felt like he was trying to rip his throat out with his bare hands in the process. In the end, all he could manage was a barely perceptable twitch in either direction. "You...d.don't...*cough*...understand. I NEED...to get to...Abyssian." He could see Croire look to Little One, and give him a nod. He felt the hand raise itself off of his shoulder for a moment, only to be joined by another hand on his opposite shoulder a moment later, this time intentionally pressing down on him. The pain made him cry out, and THAT cry made him gurgle from the effort of doing so. He could see the despair and hurt in Croire's eyes as she fought back her tears, but she remained strong. They've had time to plan this. How long was I out? For the first time the Demon Artisan felt hollow, empty. He could not feel the fire he had been granted what felt like so long ago returning to him. Not like this. He mustered up every ounce of strength he had to reach into his pocket, an effort that brought hoarse screams of pain to his lips yet again. It felt like every sinew in his arms and shoulders were about to snap due to the effort and their protest could be heard in the defeated demon's agony. Despite his pain, he managed to reach his quarry: a healing crystal. He crushed the crystal in his hand with what little strength he had and felt his pain begin to lessen.

He felt a spark. A single faint ember begin to well up inside him amongst the ash. It would have to do for now until he was back up to full. Rota gritted his teeth as he fought the pain of moving his arms above his head to grab the arms of his Mineral Son. "Little One. You are a good boy...and I love you dearly. Get off me." His voice was still in complete disrepair. While the pain HAD in fact lessened, a stone's throw away from existential torment is still soul crushing agony. He would have to deal with it all the same. There was a recently bipolar sword he needed to talk to. He felt the arms of his middle child lift from his person despite Croire's protest. "Brother! We need to keep on him! Despite that surge of healing, he is nowhere NEAR well enough to start moving on his own! You KNOW what can happen! PLEASE!" Rota could hear the Silver wrapped stones of Little One's hands clench together in what he assumed to be self-doubt. In a near sisyphean feat, Rota managed to palm the ground beside him and push his upper torso forward despite every synapse in his body wishing death upon him for even THINKING about doing such a thing, let alone actually attempt it. After literally minutes of him pushing his body upright, Rota managed to sit up. he could feel his strength returning to him exceedingly slowly, but it was returning. That was the important part.

Roughly an hour later and Rota's body was standing, albeit under intense protest both from Croire and the body itself. His vision was popping and fading in and out. He knew he was doing far too much too fast, but he also didn't care. He needed to confirm the status of Abyssian before it was too late. Shambling, Rota made his way brokenly towards the resplendent sword leaning against a very overworked anvil. If only the Tinkerer could have seen what became of his works. What would he have thought of him? Rota put his hand to the Heart of Twilight and emptied his mind of all thought.



He awoke in a black void. It was familiar to him in a way, but different all the same. In this void he could feel none of his wounds, thankfully. He scanned as far as his sight would allow him, but he couldn't see anything. "Abyssian?" He eventually cried out, "Are you here?" He heard a feminine giggle, and turned to face the source of the noise. What stood before him was a Blue haired Succubus with slitted red eyes with black pupils. She seemed to be the same age as Rota, and wore a short cropped,open sleevless vest with a blue tube top underneath, black leather pants, and boots that covered her calves. They seemed to contain the same designs as Rota's Bakugami armor. The woman replied, "Oh We're here, but I'm sure you're wanting to talk to ME." Rota was immediately puzzled by all of this. "...Abyssian? Is that really you?" The succubus giggled again ans said, "Well since our little gambit, Abyssian became a shared name. Thus, both of us needed to choose our own identity. And since you gave us an extra helping of your blood, and me finally geting a taste of your fire, I was able to take that and give myself a full on persona!" She twirled about to show off her look and smiled at the Demon Warrior. "Like it?" Rota was lost for words. "I'd...always heard a male voice in my head when talking to you before in your first version through Neo. This is gonna take some getting used to at the very least." She crossed her arms and smiled. "Well, to help the transition a bit, you can call ME Selena. Liek I said, Abyssian is the name that both I and my other share. I'm sure he has his own name, but I'm not in the loop as far as that goes." It was Rota's turn to cross his arms. "But you ARE in majority control, yes?" Selena's face got slightly more serious. "Absolutely. We made sure of that, and it worked."

Rota nodded, "Yeah, I just had to make absolutely sure, ya know? Had one to many plans go pear shaped lately. Selena shrugged. "Got me there. I can't really blame you then." She winked teasingly at him. The Demon Warrior chuckled for a moment, then his face became serious once more. "I need to talk to him, you know." Selena sighed and nodded. "I know. I'll send you there, snap your fingers to leave our mind realms entirely when you're done. I'll get you out of there." The blackness around him began to fade to white as he found himself in an all new absence. This time, he was face to face with the lord of the realm instead of having to wait for them. It was a large man, his arms and legs covered up to their elbows and knees respectively in blood. He wore what seemed to be Rota's equipment from before he gained his beetle set, yet more ragged. Had long, disheveled blood red hair, and his skin was covered in a spiderweb of cracks as if his skin was porcelain. The cracks seethed blood every so often and glowed with an unearthly red glow. His eyes were completely black with no sclera to speak of, all save for scarlet pupils. his hands and feet were bare, each with sharpened claws. Unlike Selena before him, he was NOT happy to see his guest. "...YOU..." Rota nodded. "Yep. Me. I'm here to hear you out..." Rota's voice trailed off expectantly, waiting for a name from his 'host'. The silence was palpable as he felt the eyes of the behemoth bore into his soul. "...Rath..."

Rota nodded in aceptance "Okay, Rath, do you know why I did all this?" The 8 foot behemoth let out a smirk that could light butterflies on fire, "You FEAR me. Fear yourself for what I was able to accomplish when you let me loose to DEVOUR that pathetic false-god." Rota shook his head, "Close, but not quite. No, I don't FEAR you Rath. I don't TRUST you. MULTIPLE times I tried to appeal to you, through force if necessary, to stop trying to dominate my mind. Every time you only temporarily listened to me. You are a threat to everyone I care about, and until you learn to play nice you get the penalty box." Rath laughed, and his voice echoed for miles. "Do you really think that inferior being could hold ME back? You don't think I will bide my time before control is MINE again?" Rota smiled "I do, actually. Majority control means Selena has free reign while you're stuck here. Plus, even if you get past her, that would take a LOT of effort. That leaves you weak enough for me to fight back handily. Face it. You're beaten." Rath laught defiantly. "For now. I'll CONSUME more in the future as you fight, and I'll gain my strength. just you wait." Rota sighed, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere and snapped his fingers. The world melted away, and he was back in the real world. And so was most of his pain. It was significantly less than before, but it had returned. he could also feel more fire in his chest than before, so THAT at least was returning. then the world began to fade yet AGAIN as aftershocks of him straining his body kicked in and he blacked out.

((Roleplay 2))


As if in a fog the broken demon heard the voice of someone he, in reality, heard just a few days ago, but felt like years ago. His muscles struggled to move his body for the soreness while Croire did her best to explain. "First off, hello again Alyxandeyr! Hopefully you'll be able to talk some sense into Master Rota. He hasn't been much for listening to us about his health." The deminuitive Faerie took a deep breaht to compose herself, and her thoughts, before speaking next. "Master Rota was dissatisfied with how the incident with Bakugami went, him being mind dominated by both The Demon Iron Greatsword AND the being he calls 'Player'. So he did what any stubborn demon would do, and forged 110 Gloomiron bars: half normal gloomiron, half alchemical silver gloomiron." Upon hearing the words 'Alchemical Silver', Little One turned and waved at Alyx, making sure to smile wide to show his once protector how he had grown since that day.

" From those, Master Rota constructed 55 Greatswords and fused them together, further fusing THAT sword into Neo Abyssian. However, that was not enough for him. Using an experimental technique and an artifact that he found in his final and greatest mining expedition known as the Heart of Twilight, he fused Abyssian and The Demon Iron Greatsword into eachother at the same time, making a brand new sword in the process. This fusion was made with the same technique taught to him by the Demon Blacksmith he got his fire from. The Heart of Twilight nearly sucked his ability to breathe fire away from him when he heated the forming blade with it. When he DID form some of the blade, he stabbed the jagged 2 foor piece into and THROUGH his chest!" Croire flew ovre to Rota, and stood on his back where the long black scar was. Even as light as she was, Rota still let out an exhausted whimper of pain. "As he pulled out the blade, the rest of it began froming from the jagged end, thus he was pulling freshly heated metal through his sternum. Allegedly, whatever process this was supposed to do worked, but look at what it has done to him!"

Rota began to actually be able to peel himself from the ground, despite further protest from Croire for him to stay down. He would not lie down face first when Alyxandeyr was in his forge. He didn't get far, mind, but he was able to get to a sitting position on the floor and lean his back against the overtasked anvil. Rota looked around him in a daze for the first time, and saw just how much he had done to the place. The walls and ceiling were caked with soot and burn marks from the fire and lightning, in fact MOST things were covered in a layer of soot. It was a miracle that he didn't burn the whole forge down. A dull smile crept its way across his lips as he looked at Alyxandeyr. Despite some healing, his voice was still cracked and hoarse from the unwilling flame geyser "Well...fancy...meeting you..here." His lungs ached. Every syllable had 100% of his will attatched to it, and every threatened cough was like wringing someone's lungs with spiked gloves.

((roleplay 3))


Rota was beginning to feel much better. He guessed that despite the soreness and overexertion, his demon healing had kicked back in at full force. He could tell because it was gradually getting easier to breathe. The soreness would probably stay for longer, though. That just meant that he had to stop being a little b***h about this and act like the demon warrior he was. he reached his left hand into his pocket and crushed another healing crystal. That gave him a significant boost of rejuvenation, and so he lifted himself to his feet using the Anvil he had propped himself against as leverage. Oh, every inch was painful, but Rota was done listening to his body complaining about success. His breathing was much less ragged now, and he even had the odd ember escaping his teeth. If THAT wasn't a good sign, Rota didn't know what was.


He shook his head to clear it, since exerting himself like that made his vision blur a little bit. Despite fuzziness, Rota looked back at Alyxandeyr. "It takes more than a sword through my chest to bring me down. Not the first time I've done it, just the most intense. I think I wore my body down too much before I did it, and THAT'S why it had this kind of effect on me. Besides, pace myself?" His voice was still a little hoarse, but that wouldn't last too much longer...maybe. "I learned TOO well how to pace myself. I was supposed to upgrade Abyssian a LOOOONG time ago. Plus there's only so much you can pace yourself when Admins are going to change the way I forge things." He clenched his fist in indignation. "Besides, that little witch let us escape that dungeon to prepare. I was done not repaying that kindness." The glued-back-together demon did a mental ouble take though, as something abhorrent just made itself known to him. "Define STEAL."

((roleplay 4))

Rota scoffs as he takes Alyx's hand. The effort hurts like hell as he stands to his feet, but he muscles through it. he can't let his body keep getting the better of him like this. However, Alyx's words begin to ring a little true in his head. He had gotten way too complacent. He was glad that his brother in arms had felt the same way. He was DONE not trying to further himself anymore. if this world was a game, then he was going to WIN. When he takes a little bit to get himself steady, Rota opens his mouth to speak before the world starts fad...


The Player resumes control of Rota. He was going to hate him for doing it this way but people HAD to know, especially Alyxandeyr. Rota Abyssian's hair and eyes greyed out as usual as The Player's voice started to come through the Demon's throat. Since The Player hadn't breathed fire from his mouth, his voice was still in good health. "Actually, Rota meant what he said. AdminS. Plural. I don't know how it happened but he is fully.."

Color began to return in full force to Rota's right eye and hair. All but his left eye and a piece of his left bang was left grey. His right eye was exhaustedly pissed and the left eye was startled. "Sentient, YES PLAYER!" He coughed hard, his ribs aching from the stress and he almost pitched back onto his knees. The strain of maintaining his control of the body was always difficult, but he had never had to do so while his body had THIS LITTLE willpower left in it. It was everything he had. he looked slightly to the left to show that he was talking to Player. "You know, you could've ********' trusted me for once to let him know on my own!"

The Player influences Rota to look right so Alyx can tell it's him speaking if the voice difference wasn't a good enough indicator. "Oh, that'd be really convincing, wouldn't it? 'Hey 'ol buddy, I've come to the realization that I'm a character in a videogame, and decided I don't quite like that anymore!"

Rota whips his head left, the whiplash being SOO worth it. "Don't you even start! You coulda WARNED ME before you did this s**t! You PLANNED on this, didn't you!? You were banking on my exhaustion and thought that would be the perfect opportunity to take control again!"

The Player turns Rota's head right "Now you calm your goddamn tits! No, this is just the clearest way to show that we are not the same person you paranoid ******** turns his head to Alyx and points his left hand at his left eye. "Can you believe the GALL on this guy!?"