They took their conversation down to the basement, along with Lassim’s sketches, to continue from there.
Stepping off the last step, the construct sat immobile in the center of the workshop, exactly in the same position it was left in when they powered it off during the first attempt. Its contorted form radiating quiet menace even in its dormant state. Despite its stillness, the faint hum and glow of the Spirit Quartz core inside its chest and through its body seemed to still pulse, like it was ready to come back to life and continue its transformation.
Rlyis crossed her arms as she stared at the construct. "It’s an absolute mess," she muttered, "If it wasn’t so damn valuable and the quartz being already incorporated within it, I’d recommend scrapping the whole thing and starting over to make the new form."
Eno snorted, rolling up his sleeves. "You say that, but we both know you’d never let go of a challenge," he said, half-teasing as he gestured toward the warped frame. "Still, you’re right. With the number of changes we had to make to the flexibility, especially in the joints, the thing’s barely holding itself together. I’m surprised that not only it didn’t explode the first time, but the fact that the array lines within didn’t break is a miracle."
Rlyis sighed but nodded. "Agreed. We can’t fight its will to change and optimize itself, especially if the two-soul theory is correct. But before we get into any higher-order theory crafting, Eno, you’ll need to stabilize the frame. The array adjustments I need to make can’t handle this level of distortion. Any further stretching by the mind of the souls will just break all the hard work I put in."
Eno stepped forward, inspecting the construct’s deformed limbs and jagged armor plates. "I’ll need at least two days to get this into something functional based on the sketches Lassim brought and what I can infer from which direction it wants to take based on how much it adjusted itself already," he said, running a hand over the misshapen spikes along its back.
"The spikes are mostly workable in their current state—they’re sturdy enough to keep—but they’re all over the place as if it’s not finished moving them into the correct spots. I can rework and move those and add more. Lassim, pass me the sketches of the Bearhog and the Feralwolf again. I’ll have to see if I can redraw this in a way that combines them like this." He finished as he gestured once more to a section of the right forelimb that had a mess of spikes not fully formed.
Lassim handed the pages over, watching as Eno’s sharp eyes flicked between the drawings and the construct. "To incorporate elements of both creatures," Eno muttered. "Right now, those joints are a disaster. If it’s going to move like a wolf, we need to slim them down and reinforce them without adding unnecessary weight."
Rlyis moved away toward the workbench and cleared some space and spread out some blank parchments. "We’ll leave the frame to you. I’ll focus on mapping out a new array design in the meantime."
Eno placed his hands on the construct, the silver glow of his metal elemental mana spilling out and coming out to envelope the frame. The jagged, misshapen plates quivered under his touch as he began channeling his mana into the metal, loosening its bonds and structure. The metal turned red hot in an instant and slowly, the warped pieces softened, their rigid forms melting into a malleable state.
"This thing really tried to go all out," he said finally, acknowledging Lassim watching over his shoulder. "I’ll give it credit for the creativity, but it’s a mess."
Lassim followed Eno’s gaze that was paying attention and making changes according to the sketches nearby, then back to the construct.
Eno continued, "Thankfully, nature has already done most of the design for us. As long as we copy that and let imagination fill the gaps, we won’t have to overly worry. Plus, whatever isn’t quite perfect, we know the construct has the willingness and ability to adjust itself somehow—possibly due to the Bearhog being a metal elemental spirit beast. I wonder if it’s retained some of that quality despite no longer having access to the element since we’re filling it with Lightning mana."
The silvery glow around his hands brightened, and the twisted plates of the construct’s chest began to soften and shift, their jagged edges melting into smooth curves. Lassim watched as the metal reshaped itself, forming layers that overlapped like scales.
"Take this torso," Eno continued, his tone casual as he worked. "The Bearhog’s strength is in its core—it’s built to withstand attacks from all sides. That’s what this armor is for. Thick enough to protect the core, but layered so it doesn’t weigh the whole thing down. We have to be careful and add some extra protection due to the century Spirit Quartz here, but this works well since it matches well with the Bearhog’s natural chest too."
Lassim nodded, watching the layers of metal align themselves seamlessly under Eno’s guidance. It was a mesmerizing process, the way the metal seemed to flow like water before solidifying.
"And the spikes?" Lassim asked, glancing at the jagged protrusions along the construct’s back.
"Those need some serious work," Eno said, frowning as he moved his hands to the nearest spike. "They’re all over the place right now—awkward. It clearly didn’t have enough metal so I’m going to need to add a large amount of additional alloy to make them work. Thankfully we know what it was trying to do with the spikes, so I can fix that. The hardest part will be keeping the agility that the Feralwolf’s aspect wants to maintain with so much additional weight. The only saving grace is that a semi-Spirit Mystic level construct shouldn’t notice too much of a difference but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and improve things anyways. It’s important for you to remember that when you build your own constructs in the future—having a good basis and frame is what you should strive for, even when most of the constructs you make will probably be made up of your elements; similar to the assessment test Lightning constructs back in headquarters."
As they talked, the metal elemental glow moved again and Eno began melting the odd and misshapen spikes down, reshaping them into sleek, conal points that angled along the construct’s spine.
Occasionally he moved a hand, gesturing towards the wall to his left, causing ingots of the same metal the construct was made of to float out of a nearby magic chest, and added them to the work he was doing. The new arrangement gave the construct a more streamlined appearance while maintaining the defensive barrier the spikes were meant to provide. He also made additions to the sparse spikes currently on the limbs that added a type of guards, but had adjustments to make them more sleek and agile—reducing the effect on the range of motion for them as much as possible.
Lassim studied the changes closely, noting how the new arrangement mirrored the sketches of the Bearhog’s defensive traits but still maintaining the ’spirit’ of the Feralwolf’s nature. "I guess this is the part where experience comes in," he said. "Knowing where to place things without trial and error."
"It’s less about experience, in opinion, and more about trusting my own instinct and imagination," Eno said, stepping back to examine his work. "You can spend years learning the rules, but at the end of the day, you just have to trust what feels right."
He paused for a moment, his hands still glowing faintly as he let the metal settle into its new shape. "That’s enough for now," he said, nodding toward Rlyis, who was already deep into her redrawing the new shape of the hybrid beast’s silhouettes and beginning to make decisions on where to place or adjust the array lines she’d already built to match the new structure. "She’ll be working on this for days, and her work is more important to becoming an advanced Array Master. I’ve got plenty more to do in the meantime, but go ahead and focus on what she’s doing."
Rlyis motioned for Lassim to join her at the central table, where she pressed a button on the side which took the work she’d drawn so far and turned it into a holographic projection, similar to the array control panels, that floated above the table.
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Displayed was the previous construct’s internal energy pathways that shimmered faintly. She then moved a dial and activated the rough drawing she’d made so far that changed the shape of the previous design into what looked like the new four-legged beast hybrid construct’s shape.
She had done a lot of work already, quickly matching the work Eno had been doing while Lassim watched as if she and Eno were in perfect sync for what the final design of the hybrid should look like. Unlike the chaotic mess they had seen it in before, the new structure now displayed a cleaned-up foundation, a skeleton of glowing lines waiting to be fully realized despite Eno having a lot more work to do to match this version.
"You’re already an Array Apprentice," she said,"And by now, you’re at the stage where you need to be getting the hang of designing flow systems for basic constructs. Your next step is building your own without using my templates, and there’s still a whole lot left to teach you about stabilizing constructs with pure energy-based forms which I’d consider mid-level techniques. However, what we’re doing right now with this is the same in principle as the basic flow system designing—just taken to an entirely different scale."
Lassim nodded, stepping closer to study the glowing pathways. "I can see the familiar branching structures, but these junctions—" He gestured to several glowing nodes where the lines intersected. "They’re a lot more intricate and there’s so many symbols I haven’t learned yet. I think I can understand their functions based on what you’ve taught me so far though. Did you already design these to compensate for the two energies?"
"Exactly," Rlyis said, clearly pleased by his observation. "The problem with constructs that operate at the Spirit Transcendence level or higher, is that we have to design their arrays in a different way. We can’t just fully have batteries to recharge as at this level, they also can cultivate it, like any Spirit Warrior would. That’s why these junctions exist. I just had to make some adjustments to allow the extra space in case there’s conflicts with the two differing souls, but ultimately that’s just a guess on my part for how I think it might react. I’d rather be safe than risk an explosion if it overcharges itself once we activate it and start testing its combat abilities."
She lifted up a pen-like tool and tapped it against one of the junctions, causing it to glow more brightly. "You’ll notice the flow doesn’t just stop and start—it’s always moving, always building. Just like how Spirit Warriors refine their energy to break through stages and use our weapons and inner heart worlds to balance this process, the construct needs a system that lets it do the same. You’ll add the same once you make and design constructs at this power stage eventually."
Lassim frowned slightly as he leaned closer to the projection, tracing one of the energy lines with his finger. "That makes sense."
Rlyis continued, "And that’s where things now get complicated. Constructs at this level also need arrays that mimic cultivation cycles that are specifically for allowing for the transfer of mana in a combat efficient manner for them to use battle arts and other techniques. Ideally I’d just be able to load in several of my personal array designs that mimic [Lightning Bolt] and [Lightning Barrier] and call it a day. Yet, the new Bearhog and Feralwolf traits are working against us as each at a base level are fundamentally different from humans and demi-humans. I’m actually a bit stumped on this part of the array as whatever we do has to reconcile their minds and whatever they remember from their previous lives without interfering with the rest of the construct."
Lassim glanced toward the construct that Eno was making more adjustments to on his side of the basement, and said, "The Bearhog’s metal affinity, and the techniques the records described, suggested they focus on resilience and absorption. It takes in energy and uses it to harden and fortify. The Feralwolf’s nature affinity is very different with a focus on agile movements when hunting, quick absorption of foes through their carnivorous, plant-like nature, and sensory expansion abilities through their surroundings. I’m not quite sure how we’d mimic any of that with Lightning mana focused arrays."
Rlyis smirked. "Well, that’s where our fun begins, yeah?" she said. "Here’s what I’m thinking. You’ve seen me use nodes to branch energy flow before, right?"
Lassim nodded. "On the array parchment sheet #5, I remember yes. It’s usually to stabilize complex systems or prevent overloads. But how would that help..." He gestured to the construct’s projection. "This is different."
Rlyis explained. "If we’re going to treat these as souls, they’re basically cultivators in their own right, correct? If we designed to refine and harmonize the energy as it moves through the system like we do with Lightning, we’d be locking its freedom and potential. If we instead use those nodes, we can replace the places where I’d be writing the battle art techniques and leave a blank space for the souls to hopefully fill themselves. What if they retain enough knowledge to make their own battle arts from memory, but just use whatever mana we fill it with. If we’re trying to give them intent later too, who is to say they couldn’t accomplish at least that much? Heck, they tried adjusting their shape to better suit them the instant we powered them on. I’m willing to take believe they’d be able to do that."
Rlyis gestured for Lassim to take her secondary tool, a small, rune-inscribed pen-like device that pulsed faintly with energy. "Here," she said. "Let me show you where we’ll add them and that way you’ll know where I’d put the battle arts in a construct as well. You can remember it for yourself and your own designs. Start with the limb array—it’s the easiest to work with since the energy flow there is straightforward."
As the hours stretched on, Rlyis continued to guide Lassim through the process, alternating between hands-on demonstrations and letting him work independently. She explained how the nodes within the array system acted like cultivation points, refining the raw energy into a form the construct could use.
By the time they reached the spike arrays, Lassim’s confidence had grown. He took more of an active role in participation to give suggestions on how he thought designing the pathways should go, using what he had learned to create a network that balanced the Bearhog’s defensive energy with the Feralwolf’s rapid flow.
"You’ve picked this up faster than I expected," Rlyis admitted as Lassim completed another section that she first double checked before approving of for him to draw. "You’re not bad at this."
"I’ve had a good teacher," Lassim replied, a faint smile tugging at his lips.