83 – Weapon Spirit

32F, Regular Residences

When Rachel unmasked my Axion avatar, conveniently none of her other teammates had been around or conscious to see it.

So we decided to keep my identity from them, retaining the masked mysterious "A" persona.

I didn't intend to hide it completely or come up with a new face and identity, because I didn't have enough different skillsets to distinguish another one.

It would inevitably be found out at some point, so I intended to reveal it at a suitably dramatic and useful time, as I didn't plan to keep my association with Rachel a secret indefinitely.

Cassano had also seen the White Steel Eel at the Workshop Battle, so he likely had his suspicions, but didn't question it when Rachel didn't comment on my real identity when declaring that I was, in fact, an old friend of hers and would be joining the team.

The team was already overpowered without me, and cared little for camaraderie, so everybody largely kept to themselves aside from the Floor tests and side missions Rachel sent them on.

I had asked Rachel about this dynamic at one point.

"This isn't a team I plan to keep for long. I'm just using them to get to the teammates I actually want. Right now they are only helping me because they were ordered to. I plan to bring a few of them to my side later, but it's too early for that," said Rachel.

This worked fine for me as there were few responsibilities, so I simply concentrated on my own work investigating the materials and data acquired from the Acorn Workshop.

The first part of this investigation was to take stock of what exactly had been acquired, properly interpreting the labels, and determine their purpose in the researchers' own work.

So far I'd determined that I had some pure Ignition Liquid, small samples of Boiling Acid, and a large amount of other substances for which the purpose was unclear or not labelled, failed experimental waste products, and a huge array of substances that were used as supplementary drugs or aids the researchers used on the living hosts.

Notably, there were no ingredients or components of Ignition Liquid or Boiling Acid. Neither were the production methods for these included within the data.

These were closely guarded secrets of the Workshop, and I had to assume that they were produced by another department, then transported to the Acorn researchers as finished products.

It was slightly disappointing, but I hadn't expected anything else either. If these turned out useful to me, then I'd have to figure out how to reverse engineer it with my own methods, or seek the secret by other means.

Most of the other substances, given enough time, I could probably apply some insights from their research to any experiments of my own on biological body enhancements, but they were not my immediate priority.

My main reason for the heist was to find out how the normal Ignition Weapons—those made of inanimate objects rather than living hosts—differed from Derflinger, and if anything could be used to upgrade his Shinsoo capabilities further.

Because this wasn't the focus of the Acorn Workshop's work, I had to indirectly infer the information I wanted and conduct tests to verify my interpretation.

It seemed that as I suspected, Ignition Liquid was a primary input into all Ignition weapons made by the Workshop, and it was simply adapted for the Living hosts. The pure Ignition Liquid I obtained was the standard version, but could not be directly used on living beings due to bad reactions, typically killing the host, no matter how it was delivered.

Its properties changed in different states, which were triggered by certain Shinsoo flows.

In its inert state, it was similar to ultra-high density liquid Shinsoo, but immune to direct Shinsoo control, and extremely durable.

When charged with a specific Shinsoo flow, it entered into a permeable state that had the ability to merge with and permanently bind to both physical matter and spiritual entities, serving as a bridge between them. This would immediately grant the spirit the ability to build up internal Shinsoo using the Ignition Liquid as a base, just like a normal living being, except that they still couldn't exert that Shinsoo externally.

Additionally, the extraordinary durability and Shinsoo resistance of Ignition Liquid was inherited by the merged weapon, and would further grow alongside the spirit's strength.

Once bound, the spiritual entity would gain the ability to form a temporary spiritual link to any wielder who touched the host object, and then become capable of channeling Shinsoo together with them. When both wielder and weapon both channel Shinsoo in sync, the Ignition Liquid would enter an excited state known as "Ignition".

It was called such because the excitation of the Ignition Liquid within the weapon allowed the spirit to unleash its Shinsoo externally. The more powerful the spirit and the more powerful the wielder's own Shinsoo, the greater the combined power that could be released.

Interestingly, Ignition Liquid was not the only method of creating Ignition Weapons. It was only an artificial method developed to substitute for the sealing magic of ancient sorcerers and other magical weapons that inexplicably gained sentience on their own.

OF course, with sentient weapons, there was always the risk that they would refuse to be wielded. Nothing about the creation of Ignition Weapons enforced obedience, and in some cases, the spirits could be powerful enough to kill the wielder instead.

The research on Living Ignition Weapons was partly an attempt to change this dynamic, in addition to the other reasons related to FUG plots.

When Ignition Liquid was successfully merged to a living being instead of an inanimate object, the spirit would become subordinate to the living host's will.

How exactly FUG planned to enforce obedience on Baam after melting him down with Boiling Acid wasn't clear to me, since they would have had to merge him with the Thorn, turning it into a normal Ignition Weapon with Baam as the weapon spirit. Maybe they were still hoping to use the blackmail idea.

Boiling Acid, which only worked living beings and not inanimate Ignition Weapons, didn't do anything to the resulting disembodied spirit's will, it was simply a way of recycling, as the spirit used to make the Living Ignition Weapon could be separated from the melted down host spirit, in addition to using the melted host or the amalgamated spirits for a new Ignition Weapon.

What was clear so far though, was that Ignition Liquid opened up many new possibilities for me. Even without an actual weapon spirit, the substance itself granted some powerful attributes, and with access to a powerful weapon spirit, it was even better.

For now, I did not yet rush to give the Ignition Liquid to Derflinger.

This was not because of the weakness, which Cassano had omitted from the data. That weakness I already knew of, it was just a counter that the Workshop badly named Antimatter Shinsoo, which could destroy Ignition Liquid. It was primarily effective on Living Ignition Weapons whose personal resistances were weak relative to what the Ignition Liquid granted them. For a weakness, it was rather unthreatening, considering that the Antimatter Shinsoo would likely deal far more damage to a being who had less Shinsoo resistance or durability than what Ignition Liquid granted.

No, the reason was that the binding aspect required further study. Derf's ability to transfer vessels easily and move as an immaterial spirit was very valuable, more so than any Shinsoo power up. It was unlikely that the Endbringer flesh would be the best possible material for him, after all, if we continued traveling the planes.

For now, many more experiments awaited me.

O O O

37F Hell Train

I spent quite a bit of time on the idea of copying the original Sasha's style, but I was not able to simply craft a powerful sharpstaff for offensive purposes.

I had made many attempts, but were all lacking in durability and fire power, getting wrecked after a few battles against stronger enemies on the Hell Train.

I could craft the wooden base using Armoriont, and then enchant some magecraft spells into it. I could even get the water spirits to imbue it with some elemental water mana, but that didn't actually do anything, as I was unwilling to invest any actual spirits or the water stone into the sharpstaff.

Faking a water spell or Shinsoo Baang being cast through the sharpstaff was possible, but that could only deceive the gullible or magically uninitiated.

To Derflinger, the theatrics were simply funny, rather than provoking any memories.

It wasn't all fruitless though.

Through repeated practice, my skill with the Restoration and Shaping magecraft spells improved a little bit. I originally used to test and practice them on the living Armoriont, animals, Shinheuh, and people, but rarely on objects created from organic parts or other inorganic matter.

Living beings whose biological systems had their own self-repair capabilities were easier to Restore. Even Shaping was easier, at least when there wasn't active magic resistance and with small cosmetic changes, as the living form was naturally malleable, even if it would revert quickly.

Once fashioned into an inanimate object though, these materials were far more difficult to change their shape with magic alone or restore them into a particular desired design.

For a while I just played around with the sharpstaff and Derflinger while fighting through the trash mobs, trying out different styles of combat alongside Team Darul and Boro's team.

With Boro's assistance, navigating through the passages was easy and we never faced any opponents that were too difficult. Occasionally we came across some other Regulars, but none had devolved into fights so far.

Aka's group had separated after the 36F station, and his main team was making fast progress by themselves now, though we were likely still ahead.

But I couldn't forget my original purpose on the Hell Train.

After the 37F station, I became far more alert and active in scouting instead of leaving it to the Scouts on our team.

Canonically, my objective was found by the main cast somewhere between the 37F and the next couple of stations, or the sections on the Hell Train that corresponded to them.

I suspected that the place was not in a fixed location, just like all the other passages on the Hell Train that would shift, but a passage to it was likely to always first appear around this area, with multiple ways to get to it, because Baam was able to return to it easily when they were close to the last stations.

"Up ahead should be a Train Guardian named Yokim, who will be waiting at the end of Stage 3," said Boro. "It's a very hard battle where the advantage of numbers is suppressed, but defeating him immediately clears Stage 3. We don't have to go through him though. Unlike the previous stage, he is just waiting there alone, and the alternate way is a different path with easier enemies, but will take an extra week to travel through. Since we're already making good on time, I would recommend the other path."

"No, I will face Yokim," I said as Sasha after honing in on his comment that the guardian would be waiting there alone.

I couldn't remember exactly what Yokim was, but I was sure that Baam faced down a guardian solo soon after boarding on 37F, and then he found the Rice Pot after continuing from this passage. Even if the location might have changed, I was not going to miss this chance if it was right here.

"Are you sure? He defends a very long and thin path that can only fit one person at a time. Beneath it is lava, and if you fall off, you'll die. There are some distant platforms to the sides, but they're so far I doubt anyone here would be able to provide meaningful support," said Boro.

"I'm sure. I can fly, remember? So the terrain disadvantage doesn't matter," I said.

"Oh, right. Still, we really don't have to fight him…"

"Everyone else, just stay back."

After a while, we reached it.

"Wow, this space is so huge," said Fisherman 2. "The Train didn't look this big from the outside."

"It probably is bigger on the inside. Compression effects," said Darul.

"There he is. Yokim," said Boro, pointing at a thin purple cyclops creature holding a long two-handed red spear on the far end of the thin passage ahead. "He'll start with a ranged attack, and his spear can bend even without a Lighthouse, but don't be fooled. He's even stronger in melee."

The whole passage was simply a single straight line, so there was nowhere to maneuver for a normal Regular.

However, the huge amount of open space around made it advantageous for a flier.

I advanced to the edge of the passage while the team stayed far behind, and left my Lighthouse Cube carrying my main body with them.

I was wielding just Derflinger, looking at the distant, unmoving enemy. This was a boss battle I couldn't take lightly, so the sharpstaff prop was put away and we did some planning.

O O O

[Interlude]

As the resolute Sasha moved forward alone, Boro sighed and waited with their teams at the entrance of the area.

"Why is she so eager to do things the hard way? She doesn't strike me as the type with something to prove," said Boro.

"She has her own plans and reasons. Ones that we are not privy to," said Darul. "But I'm sure she'll win, as always."

"She's amazing, I wish I could be that strong and fearless," said one of Boro's apprentices.

"Don't learn from her example. Not everyone has the same talent, and if normal Regulars like you tried things her way, you'd just die," said Boro.

"I know! I'm just saying, she's so cool."

The group quieted down when Sasha reached the edge and stood still, as if assessing her opponent.

Boro thought back to the things he had seen and heard about her. He had heard the rumors of a mysterious new D-Rank Regular with powerful Shinheuh, but didn't pay much attention to it at first.

After taking the Hell Train many times and being on these floors for hundreds of years, such things were just the flavor of the year to him. Most would end up dead, or worse, once they reached their own limits or overestimated themselves.

Boro himself was well known, but he lived quietly, unlike his former teammates who made a reputation for themselves among the strongest of the D-Rank.

He knew that competing for such acclaim was meaningless, when there were monsters lurking that were so far beyond them all, that even after six hundred years of training after that incident and reading the flows of countless weapons, he still saw no hope of getting close to victory.

Even if the opponent stood still. Even if he had 600 more years. None of it would matter.

So what was the point of it all, going back to the Train again and again? He wasn't sure, but the familiarity was comforting, and he could keep watch and…do something if that monster woke up again, he told himself.

Then Sasha spoke in a quiet voice, to nobody in particular. But Boro's ears had no trouble hearing it, even at this distance.

"This cyclops looks like an agility and attack type. He's not wearing any armor and has a thin frame. There usually aren't deceptive appearances with the test enemies, so that should mean he'll be more vulnerable than the last guy," Sasha said.

Had he not heard it already before, Boro would have been surprised for once, because there was a response.

"So we only need one good hit. This should be easy," came the voice of the saber, which Sasha had called 'Flin' in previous battles. "Let's just blitz him, you have the aerial advantage."

It was a confident and relaxed voice, the kind that Boro knew came not from arrogance but the certainty of strength.

There was nothing in particular that was different about the voice from other arrogant types, of course. It was just a voice.

But Boro had actually caught a glimpse of it, back then, at the previous stage's battle where Sasha similarly chose to fight the guardian alone.

A glimpse of the true depth of power that lay within that saber.

Although the attack unleashed was impressive on its own, it was still at a level which was plausible for elite D-Rank Regulars.

However, Boro's keen eye for weapon flows allowed him to just barely perceive that vast depth which had been hidden beneath.

That was not a weapon any D-Rank Regular could face. It belonged in the same realm as that monster who appeared on the Train 600 years ago, and the moment he'd made the comparison in his mind, he started having terrifying flashbacks.

It had been so shocking that he thought he had been mistaken. That perhaps, because this was a talking weapon which he'd also never seen before, he might not have had an accurate read on its unusual flows.

But later on, as he observed Sasha and the saber fighting over the last few weeks, he grew increasingly convinced that his initial instinct had been correct.

"It would be easy if I caught him in a Lighthouse control field, and he doesn't have much space to avoid it on that passage. But Cubes are slow, so with spear bending, he would probably destroy my Cubes before I can trap him," said Sasha. "His spear might even move faster than we can, so we can't underestimate him."

"You don't think we can just parry the spear?"

"Even if we did parry it once, he could just move it and strike again," Sasha said. "I doubt we can trap it if it's as powerful as I think. Given his attack specialty, it's probably good enough to break the last guy's armor."

"So, it'd be a gamble if we rush in on speed alone. How about a decoy?"

"That's the obvious solution, but I don't particularly want to sacrifice a unit for that, as we'd probably lose the biomass completely."

"I'm not seeing any other way though, unless you want to just bring out the big guns and blow him away," said Flin. "But that's boring."

As he heard the saber make reference to powers still kept hidden, Boro wished he had actually stayed behind to watch the last part of the fight between Sasha and Aka's team.

If he had, then he would probably know for sure whether he had been right on his read.

It was clear from the fact that she emerged unscathed from Aka's blockade that she still had more powerful cards to play.

But how much of that saber's true power was known to her and under her control? Was it a newbie playing with a monstrous weapon far beyond her, acquired from a stroke of fortune?

"I think you're being too cautious, though. How long has it been since you had a fight where the odds weren't certain?" Flin added.

"The wise general—" Sasha started.

"—wins before fighting. Yeah yeah. But sometimes the fight comes to you and not the other way around. I say we get some practice in while the stakes are low," said Flin.

Boro couldn't see what part of these stakes were low, when death was the likely outcome of failure.

He wanted to warn her of the danger in recklessly moving forward while relying on that weapon. But he kept silent, knowing that she wouldn't listen to a stranger, much less someone whom she likely perceived as weaker than herself, even without the weapon.

Eventually, Sasha came to a conclusion. "Alright. Let's just blitz him like you said. You're just itching for a fight with an actual challenge, huh?"

"You know it!"

Sasha finally dashed forward and took flight in a straight charge.

Yokim reacted immediately, and threw his red spear in a blazing streak of light.

The two flying entities closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and Sasha swerved in the air in an attempt to dodge and press forward.

The spear spun to account for the change in trajectory but proved less maneuverable than Sasha's own technique, resulting in Sasha slipping through to the other side while the spear had to do a full 180 reversal to keep chasing.

Just like that, Sasha charged full throttle ahead, while the spear, despite re-accelerating quickly and likely having a higher maximum velocity than Sasha, failed to catch up to her before she reached Yokim.

Her saber was raised, a large swirling aura of power around it as she swung laterally at Yokim's head.

Boro stared with rapt attention, seeing the same flows, and that same hidden depth lurking beneath the surface, there was no mistaking it after seeing it a second time, he thought.

Yokim ducked downwards while raising his Shinsoo reinforced hands to strike her.

Then Sasha's body twisted upwards mid-swing without warning, cancelling the motion and flipping sideways over Yokim's head before spin-kicking him from behind.

Boro watched, jaw agape, as Yokim's large single eye widened in surprise seeing his own spear coming at him and unable to stop it in time.

The guardian's chest was cleanly blown through by the Shinsoo-enhanced spear attack, and his top half separated from his bottom half, falling into the lava below.

Meanwhile, the aura around the saber disappeared, its attack never being used.

"Yokim is down. Stage three clear. The passage to the next stage shall now open." a robotic voice announced.

Team Darul and his apprentices cheered.

"That…is certainly one way of doing it," said Boro. He idly wondered if she had somehow read his mind and sent him a message about the danger of having tunnel vision.

He, like the cyclops, had focused so much on Sasha's weapon and its flows he completely failed to see through Sasha's movement. Although he had seen her flying in the previous guardian battle, only now did he realize the implications of her technique.

'It isn't just flight, she's somehow cancelling her momentum and changing directions without using Shinsoo or any muscles. I can't read it, because there aren't any flows to read!' He concluded with shock while walking towards the now cleared passage with the group.

Sasha did not wait for them and simply continued onwards, passing the gate to the next area.

After a few minutes, they caught up to her examining a large blue glowing circular platform.

"Mr. Boro, what's this?" Sasha asked, having turned to face them while standing at the edge of the platform.

Boro examined the platform for a moment. "It's a warp device. These will lead to another area of the Hell Train, usually a hidden chamber with a guardian in it. Outside of the main stages, guardians usually protect hidden treasures or items and they're extra strong. You're the only one in this group qualified to take one on. I could help, but it would be too dangerous for the rest."

"Hmm, can the warp device be used more than once?" Sasha asked.

"It can, but there might not be a return warp on the other side, and it'll be deactivated after nighttime when the paths get randomized, so other groups won't be able to follow us unless it reappears by chance again later," said Boro.

"I'm going to use the warp. Whoever wants to follow can join me. I won't force anyone," said Sasha.

"We'll follow your lead whatever the danger," said Darul.

"We'll go as well," said Boro after getting nods from his apprentices. "But my apprentices will stay back from the fighting."

"Fine by me," said Sasha.

O O O

"That's…!" Boro exclaimed upon seeing the huge blonde guardian sitting facedown against his lap on top of an even larger container of sorts at the far end of the hall. "The God of Guardians!"

"What's that? Why's he called the 'God' of Guardians?" asked Boro's male apprentice.

"He's like their leader. Other guardians won't approach this area. There are some written records about him, which say that he's existed since the Great Warriors first got on the Train themselves, and there's a legend that the Family Leaders passed his test to gain their true powers. But that's just a legend."

Boro shook his head. "Actually, it's a bit unlucky for us to meet him of all the guardians…no D-Rank Regular has ever defeated him. He's not just dangerous, it's impossible to win even if everyone on the Hell Train fought him at the same time. We need to quickly leave before he wakes up," said Boro, shaking his head.

Most of the group sighed disappointedly and started turning to walk away.

"I…see…" Darul said slowly, when he observed that Sasha was still staring at the guardian. "Lady Sasha…should we go…?"

"You guys can go on without me," said Sasha, turning her face around with a small smile. "Thank you for attending to me all this way, Darul, and everyone. You too, Boro, thank you for guiding us. Farewell."

"What…Lady Sasha, what do you mean?" asked Darul. "We will not abandon you simply because of a little danger, if you intend to face that guardian."

"Yeah!" "We'll stay with you!" "Let's fight!" Came the voices of Team Darul.

"I strongly advise you to reconsider, Lady Sasha. This is not a fight that can be won," said Boro. "I'm afraid my apprentices and I cannot join you for this, but we can wait for you in the next passageway."

"No, you're misunderstanding. This is simply the end of our time together. Darul, I told you guys before we boarded that we would separate, remember? That time has come. You must go now, and make your own way. Leave me, and do not wait. Do not even speak of this. You escaped, and do not know what happened to me. Got it?" Sasha said with a steely tone.

"Lady Sasha…this…" Darul said, confused. Hadn't she said something about getting off the Train before the end, and they would separate then? It had sounded like it would be much later in the journey. This situation didn't quite match up with that. He wondered if this had been her real objective all along, and they'd simply lucked on encountering it early.

Suddenly her Arms Inventory materialized, and all six of her beasts came out of her Bowls. They took up aggressive postures, growling, against Team Darul and Team Boro.

"I no longer have any need of you. Leave now, or I will order my beasts to attack."

"All of a sudden…why?" Maid asked desperately. "What will we do without you?"

"That's up to you. If you don't think you can survive without me, then just get off the Train," said Sasha with a shrug.

"I don't know what sort of arrangement you guys had, but it's best you listen to her. Nothing good can come of staying here," said Boro.

Suddenly there was a rumble from the end of the hall.

The guardian woke up and raised its head.

"Fuck, it woke up, we need to get out of here!" Boro shouted. "There's no time to dawdle!"

Sasha turned around quickly.

"You…" The guardian's voice, deep and powerful, reverberated through the chamber. "What do you want?"

Its Shinsoo pressure was a mountain that suddenly pressed down on them, freezing them in place.

"Ah…ah?!Wh-what do we do? Are we all gonna die?!" Scout stammered with an abnormally high pitched voice.

"Get a hold of yourselves, we'll do a fighting retreat!" Boro shouted with his Needle raised and then faced his apprentices. "You two, run!"

"Yes sir!" They turned and ran immediately.

Then the god of guardians leapt off the container.

"Damn! It's coming!" Darul shouted, "Everyone get back!"

When the guardian landed in front of Sasha, the ground shook. Its form towered over all present as if they were mere insects.

Its finger was many times the size of a human.

"You. The one who opened the gate yourself to come in?" The god of guardians asked, pointing at Sasha.

"Yes," she said.

"I am not speaking to you, puppet. The one in the sword…you are the one…"

Everyone made various cries of surprise. Even Sasha looked taken aback.

"What? Me?" Flin asked. "You sure?"

O O O

A/N: There is an incredible flood of bots/spammers trying to offer art commissions or "collaborations" on FFN now, probably because of the AI craze. I've received 50+ in the last few months. If anyone REAL wants to talk to me, please make sure you don't sound like a bot and don't even mention anything about art. This is a pure hobby I don't make money from and have no intention of monetizing, so I don't commission anything either, unless people want to do volunteer fanart. Come hang out on discord if you're a real person.