At the end of the Pit a huge set of gates that looked like ribs opened up and we went into Level 2: The Forge of Desires.
The air in this place was really different. It was not damp and musty like the level. Instead it was hot and dry smelling like melted metal and old wine. This was the place where the Creator got rid of his desires". There were furnaces all around us burning with a red fire and we could hear the sound of hammers hitting metal even though we could not see them.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[LOCATION: THE FORGE OF DESIRES (LEVEL 2)]
[OBJECTIVE: REFORGE THE SOVEREIGN'S REGALIA]
[WARNING: THE FORGE REQUIRES 'LIQUID WILL' TO OPERATE.]
Lilith said quietly "This is where they made the weapons for the war." Her skin was shiny with sweat because of the heat. "The Creator used to use 'Desire' before he started using 'Logic' as his sword.. These tools were too much for the angels to handle."
I said, "I can handle them." My voice was loud and clear with all the noise from the furnaces.
I walked towards the anvil in the middle of the room. It was made of a kind of metal called Primordial Star-Iron and it was sitting on top of a volcano of red energy. Next to it was a pile of black glass. This was what was left of the Sovereign's Spine.
Elara said, "To fix your sword and your armor, Alaric you cannot just use a hammer." She was looking at the symbols on the Forge. "The Forge needs the 'Friction of Souls to work. It needs a flow of power to melt the Star-Iron."
Isabella added, "It needs a ritual that never stops." She looked at me. I could see that she understood. To make a weapon that could beat the logic of the Heaven we had to create a huge surge of power that would make the Forge work.
In the past I would have gotten tired before the metal even got soft.. Now I had the Infinite Stamina of the Primal Seed.
I told Isabella, Elara and Lilith to get on the anvil. I stepped up to the Star-Iron and my body was giving off heat like the furnaces. I picked up the pieces of my sword and put them on the anvil.
I said, "We are not just making a sword. We are making the end of the Heavens.. We will keep going until the metal screams."
[Status: Initiating the 'Forge-Link' Ritual.]
[Condition: Infinite Stamina will be used to maintain a Mana-Pressure.]
I said, "A king who gets tired cannot make the metal bend. Only a god who never stops can make it melt."
I pulled Isabella and Elara onto the Star-Iron anvil. They lay back against the metal and their skin looked really beautiful against the dark surface. Lilith stood at the head of the anvil her hands pressing into the grooves of the stone to channel the power of the First Sin.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[FORGE-LINK ACTIVATED]
[FUEL SOURCE: INFINITE STAMINA / PRIMAL FRICTION]
[TARGET: REFORGING THE 'SOVEREIGN'S WRATH']
I entered them with all my strength without holding back. With Infinite Stamina I was like a machine hitting them with the rhythm as a heartbeat.
Every time I hit them a shockwave of power went into the Star-Iron. The metal started to hum. Then it started to glow.
Elara cried out "Its working! The friction is turning into heat! Don't stop, Alaric!"
I said, "I don't know how to stop."
An hour passed two, then five. In any place my body would have given up my heart would have burst from the strain.. The Primal Seed just kept going turning my pleasure into a burning sun. The Star-Iron started to soften, turning from a block into a glowing liquid metal that flowed around the broken pieces of the Sovereign's Spine.
Isabella was a mess of moans. Gasps, her legs locked around my waist as I used her body to shape the metal. Every time our bodies collided a spark of red lightning hit the anvil welding the old pieces into a new scary shape.
[FORGE PROGRESS: 65%... 80%... 95%...]
[WARNING: TEMPERATURE EXCEEDING CELESTIAL LIMITS]
Lilith shouted, "Now! Give it the Soul-Quench!"
I reached the peak. I didn't release it into the air. I gripped the edges of the anvil my muscles bulging. Erupted. The power of my Primal Seed, a glowing white-hot fluid blasted directly onto the molten metal.
The "Quench" was an explosion of steam and light. The liquid Star-Iron hissed, drinking in my power cooling instantly into a shape that was no longer a sword.
As the steam cleared I stood over the anvil my breath still steady my heart ready for another round. On the stone was a weapon that looked like it was made of solidified blood and night. It was a Great-Scythe, its blade curved like a demons smile pulsing with the red rhythm as my heart.
[ITEM REFORGED: THE ABYSSAL REAPER]
[RANK: PRIMAL SOVEREIGN TIER]
[ ABILITY: STAMINA-FEED (Every strike steals the enemy's vitality to fuel the wielder's pleasure).]
I picked up the Reaper. It felt weightless in my hands like it was part of me. I looked at Isabella and Elara; they were exhausted, their bodies spent. They were glowing with a new metallic shine. I however felt like I could go for another ten hours.
I said, "The armor is next. The Creator gave himself a throne. I'm going to make myself a skin that can't be touched by his 'Undo' command."
[Status: Weapon Reforged. Divinity: 6.3%]
[Condition: Infinite Stamina active. Alaric is ready for the Armor-Forge.]
Lilith shouted, "The Star-Iron is still liquid, Alaric!. It won't bond to a mortal soul. You have to force it to recognize you as its master while its still burning!"
I looked at the remaining pool of metal on the anvil. It was glowing, pulsing with a life of its own.
I told Isabella and Elara to stay and I stepped directly into the runoff of the Forge.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[INITIATING: PRIMAL GRAFTING]
[WARNING: EXTREME PHYSICAL TRAUMA DETECTED.]
[INFINITE STAMINA STATUS: ACTIVE (PAIN SUPPRESSION ENGAGED)]
The molten Star-Iron hit my feet and shins. I felt my skin burning.. With Infinite Stamina I couldn't feel the pain. I was forced to feel every moment of the metal bonding to my bone.
I reached out. Grabbed the liquid metal pulling it up my thighs my torso and my arms. I wasn't just wearing it; I was weaving it into my skin.
Isabella cried out "Alaric stop! You'll burn!"
I didn't stop. I channeled the Infinite Stamina into my body healing my skin as the metal burned it. The result was a suit of living, breathing armor that moved like silk but was harder than the foundations of the heavens.
[ARMOR FORGED: THE SOVEREIGN'S SHROUD]
[TRAIT: LOGIC-VOID (This armor cannot be 'Undone' or 'Reset' by the Creator's commands).]
The metal cooled instantly as I let out a pulse of power. I stood in the center of the Forge no a man, but a dark metallic god. The armor was sleek midnight-black, with veins of glowing crimson that pulsed like a heart.
I looked at my hands. They were encased in articulated gauntlets that felt like part of my skeleton.
Lilith asked, "How do you feel?" She was approaching me cautiously.
I said to them "I feel like a cage that has finally been opened." The Abyssal Reaper showed up in my hand like that.
[DIVINITY: 6.3% -> 6.5%]
[STATUS: FULLY EQUIPPED]
I turned to my women, Isabella, Elara and Lilith. They were looking at me with a kind of hunger. I had made it through the fire. Now I was the fire.
"The Basement has one level left " I told them. I pointed the tip of the Abyssal Reaper down at the floor. "The Throne of the First Betrayal is there. That is where we will find the map to get back, to the top.. This time I am not going to climb up. The Abyssal Reaper and I are going to invade."