"Alright," Elias reached out, and with a thought, pulled two of the artefacts towards him: a jade dagger and an obsidian dagger. The Jade Dagger, with an embedded ruby and intricate silver detailing was beautiful. The Obsidian Dagger, also shaped like a leafblade, was sharp, black and had faint gold detailing ,beautiful yet deadly tool. He held both in his hands, their cold weight a strange comfort in the emptiness of his domain.
He focused on the Jade Dagger first and its essence appeared before his eyes as a glowing, intricate blueprint. Unlike the talisman, this dagger's arrays were not a single binding sequence. They were an interwoven web of complex instructions. Elias immediately recognised the Binding arrays, the ones that had sealed its loyalty to him. Now,there were also more Containment arrays design to store more energy within the blade within the blade. And finally, there were Sensory arrays, small, crystalline circuits that seemed to be constantly reaching out, probing the world around them.
"Thats new,last I checked it only had two types of Arrays with basic instructions but now it's like I'm looking at something entirely different."
" Really? What does it say,I can't read all these symbols." Eli said.
"The three types of arrays were not simply side-by-side. They were integrated, working in concert to perform a more awesome task." Elias explained, letting go of the dagger and with a thought, expanding it's internal string of Arrays.
As he studied the blueprint, Elias felt a excitement settle in his chest. New characteristics had been born from the dagger and had now fused to him. He could see it in the way the arrays intertwined, in the way the energy within the blade seemed to pulse in a rhythmic, sinister beat.
These had been locked behind the simple instructions he'd seen previously but now S.K had unlocked it he could see what this weapon could really do.
The first of its new abilities was a Sensory Array that instructed the weapon to emit a faint aura of fear and despair at will. Elias remembered that S.K had said that the Jade Tortoise that was killed by the Paragons had that ability.
"So it remained in its body and became a charateristic huh?"that every time he swung the dagger, it would not just cut his opponents but would also flood their minds with terror, causing them to hallucinate.
" That seems like a pretty strong ability." Eli commented.
" Yes it is and this is Grade 5 artifact meaning that it is going to be quite effective for those equal to and below the Saint stage." Elias said zooming in on the symbol for a Soulfire Class weapon which was the four pointed star from eight all the Arrays seemed to glow from.
" I doubt you'll meet anyone who's above a Saint though." Eli said. Elias thought of how his mother was a Praetorian but pushed that aside and continued to study the Array and it's functions.
The second new ability was far more sinister. It seemed from the Ruby embedded into the blade.
The dagger had an area of effect.
No it was...
'A small fragment of a Spirit Domain?'
Elias was a bit stunned.
This Area of effect could that could be expanded around the user when activated. Its function was that it could be manifested up to a ten-meter radius within which, the blade would not only absorb the energy and slowly break down objects with each strike, but it would also slowy drain the life force of whoever was within it and pour it straight into his own Spirit Domain.
While this ability was dependent on how strong what he was facing was,it was still an insidious ability. A shudder ran through him.
What was more terrifying, however, was what would happen if he, the master of the dagger, were to be killed. The dagger would, in turn, absorb his spirit into its little Spirit Domain, turning his soul into a fragment of its power. He also realised that the potency of the dagger's characteristics would rise with each Ascension he took, as it was bound to his soul, its power tied to his own.
A thought came to him then, one that was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. "Artifacts don't create effects out of thin air like Talismans do,they use instructions to manipulate the objects inherent characteristics and manifest abilities or functions. So far,all the functions I'm now discovering is in line with what S.K had said about that Mythical Beast,the Jade Tortise. It's manifesting what was already there.The question then is that, do beasts also have Spirit Domains?"
" I don't think so though. Beasts and humans aren't the same,how they oregress isn't the same either." Eli responded, scratching his cheek.
"How do you explain this then?" Elias asked.
The shadow clone shrugged.
" Hey,I don't know enough about the world to give you an answer. But it could be an ability inherent to this particular beast."
Elias stared at the dagger.
" Hey,if you're not convinced you can just go read more on beasts. Or ask your sister."
Elias sighed.
" In any case,let's see what this Domain looks like." He said, focusing his will and deployed the dagger's area of effect.
The world around him was immediately dyed a deep, visceral red, and the space became distorted, shimmering like a heat haze. Even though he was the master of the dagger and its effect was a part of his soul, a chill still ran down his spine. The cold was not a physical one; it was a deep, spiritual cold that went straight to his core. He turned to Eli, who was standing a few feet away with his hands in his shirt, completely unaffected by the chilling effect.
"What?" Eli asked, a confused look on his face.
"You don't feel it?" Elias asked.
"No," Eli said, shrugging.
"I'm a construct of pure energy, remember? I'm not an actual soul. Maybe that's why."
"Maybe," Elias muttered, his gaze fixed on the red, distorted space.
Eli moved closer to him, a slight grin on his face.
"This is a great ability. You should give it a name."
"A name?" Elias asked.
"Why would I give it a name? That's just cringe."
"Because it's a cool ability," Eli said, a hint of a laugh in his voice.
"And cool abilities need cool names. It's a rule."
"Made by who?"
" Why,me of course." His grin widened.
Elias sighed, knowing there was no point arguing with him. He looked down at the ruby embedded in the dagger, its surface glowing with a faint, sinister light. He remembered a scene from a book he read where much like the area he was in now distorted what one perceived. This Area would most likely also cause hallucinations on whoever was cought within it. Like falling down a rabbit hole.
"Bloody Wonderland," he said, a faint smile on his face.
"Bloody Wonderland," Eli repeated, nodding.
"Yeah, I like that. It's got a ring to it."
Elias retracted the area of effect, and the red haze dissipated, leaving the void calm once more. He then turned his attention to the Obsidian Dagger.
This dagger was different.
It had a different aura, a different feel. It
He expanded it's web of Arrays. It's base array was a three armed spiral,meaning that it was an Existential class artifact.The dagger's arrays were a complex web of Transmutation Arrays, designed to break down objects and convert them into different forms depending on what the user imagined. It could even turn objects into energy. This Dagger however was a Grade 6 artifact for a person of the Vortary stage. Unlike it's Jade counterpart,this one couldn't grow with him and so if he wanted to increase it's potency,he'd have to do some 'editing' to update it's growth with him. He took the dagge and manifested a bubble if liquid energy and touched it with the blade, turning it into a metallic ball.
" Wow." Eli said taking the ball in his hands.
"Not a bad pull, not at all." Elias said holding both daggers in his hand, the Jade Dagger in his right and the Obsidian in his left, Elias did a few swings, his movements a graceful dance like the calm flow of a river.
Suddenly he turned and sliced up the metal ball Eli had just thrown at him, turning it into a cloud of shimmering dust.
Eli watched him, his eyes wide with a look of awe. He applauded, a loud, thunderous sound in the silence of the void.
Elias let go, and the two daggers returned to hovering in the air. He then reached out for the next artefact, the 'Miracle Maker Pendant '.
"I wonder if it can truly make miracles."