Three days after Lassim returned with the potential matches and their work in reshaping the construct began, Lassim, Rlyis, and Eno stood shoulder to shoulder before their remade creation, their gazes locked on the dormant form that now dominated a large section of the basement.
The construct’s new design was a triumph of craftsmanship and imagination, melding the sleek and predatory features of the Verdant Feralwolf with the imposing spikes and defensive durability of the Thornclaw Bearhog. Its form seemed almost alive even in stillness, the Spirit Quartz embedded in its chest glowing faintly like the heart of a slumbering beast.
Rlyis adjusted the array control panel, her fingers brushing over the glyphs and rune symbols to check the parameters one last time. Her expression was sharp and focused, her eyes flicking between the glowing runes on the panel and the construct’s metallic frame as she read the data and compared it with the construct.
"Eno," she said without turning, "how’s the frame after all the reworking?"
Eno leaned against a worktable, his arms crossed as he surveyed the construct critically. He had spent every hour of the past three days reshaping its twisted, chaotic form into something functional, efficient, and lethal that should express the peak of Spirit Transcendent combat ability with ease. It was, in Eno’s words, a masterpiece worthy of his current level of experience.
"It’ll hold," he said confidently. "Even if the two souls inside want to make further adjustments. I reinforced every weak point I could find, and the new materials we added have done wonders for stability and flexibility. This thing will be a fortress that moves like a predator. Heck, I’d like to see it go against the Sect Master if it does what we want it to. That said," He nodded toward the construct, his sly grin faint, but teasing. "If it doesn’t perform, it’s not the frame’s fault."
Lassim stepped closer to the construct, his Spirit Sense brushing against the faint energy field of spirit pressure radiating from its dormant form.
Over the past three days, he had watched and learned so many various advanced concepts with regards to how to build combat constructs, and the steps it took to reach this pinnacle of array building as Eno reshaped the metal and Rlyis painstakingly reworked the arrays. Their combined efforts transformed the construct from a chaotic mess of the first test into something far greater.
Now, standing in its presence, he felt an undercurrent of something he couldn’t quite define. It was as though the construct wasn’t only waiting to be activated—it was aware, watching, waiting for its moment to awaken.
"It certainly feels… different," Lassim said, "Even now, before activation, it feels alive."
Rlyis glanced at him, her sharp eyes narrowing slightly, "Alive," she repeated thoughtfully, her gaze shifting back to the construct. "If the two souls are still present and working together, that would explain the sense of awareness. But we’ll know for sure once we power it on. If it can reach the semi-Spirit Mystic stage then we’ve succeeded."
Rlyis took a deep breath, steadying herself as she prepared to channel her mana into the control panel for the activation sequence. Her fingers hovered over the glowing glyphs, each one corresponding to a segment of the arrays she had so carefully designed and Lassim has helped input.
"This is it," she said. Rlyis’ focus already locked onto the glowing panel as she began the activation sequence. Her mana flowed smoothly into the arrays, the glyphs and symbols flaring to life as energy coursed through the construct’s pathways.
The room seemed to hum with power, the air growing heavy as the fully charged with Spirit Sense Quartz embedded in the construct’s chest began to brighten further. The glow spread outward, illuminating the intricate lines of the arrays that ran through its frame like veins, carrying energy to every part of its body.
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The hum deepened into a low, rhythmic pulse, steady and unrelenting. The Spirit Quartz flared brighter, its light now casting sharp shadows across the room. The construct’s limbs twitched faintly, the movements small at first but growing more deliberate with each passing moment.
Its joints flexed and relaxed, testing their range of motion as the energy flowed through them. The spikes along its back and limbs shifted only slightly, aligning themselves with a careful movement that seemed deliberate.
Then, all at once, the construct came alive. Its head lifted slowly, the motion fluid and predatory, and its eyes snapped open, revealing twin orbs of concentrated lightning mana that burned with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the air.
The construct then let out a low growl, a sound that resonated through the workshop like a rumble of thunder.
Rlyis stepped back, her hands still hovering over the control panel as she watched the construct. "It worked," she said softly, her voice filled with a mix of awe and relief. "The arrays are holding, the energy flow is stable… It seems to like the new form we gave it to!"
Eno let out a low whistle, his grin widening as he stepped closer to the construct. "Look at it," he said. "That’s basically a Spirit Beast in its own right—we can hardly consider this to even be a lightning construct anymore, can we?"
Lassim approached cautiously, his Spirit Sense extending toward the construct. The energy he felt within the construct was on another level and he felt an appreciation for the bright array lines glowing throughout it’s structure as he knew exactly which sections he’d worked on and helped build.
The layered, complex, a harmony of two distinct forces working together was also becoming more apparent the longer the construct was active. The dual souls within the Spirit Quartz weren’t clashing or competing thankfully, though. They were coexisting, their combined presence creating an undercurrent of awareness that was almost unsettlingly familiar to his own situation between his dual elemental beasts and their recently added bond when he fused his mana.
"I think it’s safe to say that it’s definitely got the intelligence it’ll need for using intent," Lassim said, "The question is, can it make the intent on its own through it’s past experience as two separate beasts or do we have to supply it with something like my lightning fish sprites?"
Rlyis nodded slowly, her gaze locked onto the construct as it turned its glowing eyes toward her as she held the control panel. It had a clear deference to her as if she was its parent or master. "The dual souls," she said thoughtfully. "They might have that capability, but I guess that’s our next test since we know it works and the changes it made to its form were so minor. We could bring it upstairs I think…"
She took a step forward and the construct lowered its head slightly, its glowing eyes fixed on Rlyis. The movement was deliberate, almost predatory, yet it carried a sense of obedience.
It awaited further orders, its body tense and coiled like a predator ready to strike. Rlyis extended her hand and touched the forehead of the wolf creature, gently stroking it as she said, "Yeah, it’s ready," she said after a moment, "Let’s take it outside. We need to see what it’s truly capable of."
The trio led the construct to a workshop elevator that was large enough in the basement to take the large construct upstairs since its frame was just too wide and massive for the staircase.
After a short ride up and out of the workshop, they moved across the outpost grounds and exited the arrays to a space big enough for the construct to show its stuff.
The morning sunlight glinted off its metallic frame, and the construct moved with a fluid grace as it followed them as they flew slowly through the air towards their destination.
Lassim watched it closely, his Spirit Sense extended as he tried to continue to study and read the way the mana and spirit sense was flowing through it. He wanted to do his best to remember this and burn it into his enhanced mind for some day in the future when he works on constructs at this level again.
They traveled for nearly 20 minutes before they reached a small open plain well beyond the outpost’s reach. Stretched out before them, a wide expanse of grass and dirt that offered the perfect space for testing the construct’s abilities.
Rlyis stopped in the center of the plain and turned to face the construct, her posture commanding as she addressed it. "Stand ready," she said. The construct obeyed instantly, lowering its body into a crouch, its limbs coiled and its glowing eyes locked onto her. The spikes along its back and limbs flexed subtly, their conal tips gleaming in the sunlight.
Rlyis raised her hand saying, "Well, let’s see if it can create its own battle arts with the blank technique cores we added," then pointed toward a large boulder several hundred yards away.
"Attack," she commanded. The construct moved in an instant, its speed startling for its size but perfectly at the peak of the Spirit Transcendence stage.
It closed the distance to the boulder in the blink of an eye, its claws glowing with thick lightning mana as it slashed through the stone. The impact was explosive, sending shards of rock flying in every direction and leaving a deep gouge in the earth beneath.
Before the dust had even settled, the construct turned its attention to another target—a tree standing at the edge of the plain. It leapt toward the tree, its metallic and lightning mana infused body moving with an agility and speed that seemed ridiculous, even by Lassim’s standards.
Opening its jaws, it gathered a surge of crackling, violet lightning between its metallic teeth before biting down with devastating force. With a loud crack of thunder and a flashbang that made the trio of creators squint, the tree shattered into splinters. The sheer power of the attack left a 100 meter wide crater where it had stood—despite the bite only taking place at the middle section of the tree.
The construct reared up next, the spikes along its back and limbs glowing brightly as it charged another attack. This time, with a super rapid curling and crouching motion, it fired a volley of lightning-infused spikes, each one striking the ground in a huge area of effect attack in the nearby 200 meter cone behind it with enough force to leave massive craters in each spike’s wake. The sheer destructive power of the attack was breathtaking.
Lassim watched the display in silence, his mind racing as he tried to process what he was seeing. Lassim reckoned that he’d most likely barely be able to hold his own against the beast and it still hadn’t shown the feature they were hoping for the most, intent.
Eno watched the display and let out another whistle of admiration. "I think that settles the debate on if it can make its own techniques or not," he said. "Those attacks are powerful. We’ll need to study what it wrote to fill the gaps you put in so we can use them for future constructs."
Rlyis nodded, her sharp eyes fixed on the construct as it prowled across the plain back to her. "It’s remarkable that the souls inside the Spirit Quartz are still conscious enough that they’re capable of drawing on their memories after who knows how long since they’ve died. Their innate instincts must be remarkable."
The construct returned to Rlyis, its glowing eyes locking onto hers as it awaited further orders. Rlyis placed a hand on its metallic frame, stroking it in appreciation once more, but also studying the array lines and the mana within. Though it was faint, Lassim seemed to catch a slight pulsing that faintly showed in response to her touch.
She glanced at Eno, her expression thoughtful. "This is it," she said softly. "This is what we’ve been working toward. If it can display intent, then we’ll not only have our first ever lightning construct capable of Spirit Mystic level attacks, but we’ll also have a construct that isn’t like any we’ve ever built before—one that’s practically alive. We’ll have a whole new field of study to unlock more constructs and so much more to do after this."
Eno approached the construct slowly, his sharp eyes studying every detail of its frame to check for damage. The construct’s chest rose and fell subtly, mimicking the breathing of a living creature despite its metallic and lightning mana nature that didn’t need to breathe at all.
"For the next test, let’s fill it with some of your lightning fish, if that’s alright with you Lassim?" Rylis said as they watched Eno begin a thorough check on every espect of the construct.
"Sure, we could do that now if you wanted?" He replied.
Rlyis shook her head, "I’d like to first study the changes the souls made to the array lines first before we add more factors. That way, in the event that they overload or there is damage caused by it using your intent, we can easily rebuild the construct to how it was intended when they wrote the battle arts."
Rylis then stepped back, gesturing for the construct to follow. "Let’s head back. Come," she commanded towards the construct. The construct obeyed immediately, its movements fluid and precise as it fell into step beside her.
Lassim continued to watch it closely as the trio began leading the construct back toward the outpost. His thoughts focused on how they would incorporate the intent and what he knew already about this level of advanced constructs that Rylis had taught him the last three days.
The plains stretched out around them, and the morning sun was still transitioning to the middle of the sky as the testing had been relatively short. Rylis and Eno spoke lightly about their ideas for how to gather more Spirit Quartz that may contain souls like the unique century piece clearly had.
They were nearing the workshop when Lassim suddenly stopped, his entire body seizing abruptly with tension as a wave of lethal intent washed over him.
His Spirit Sense flared, the sensation sharp and cold, like the edge of a blade pressed against his throat from behind him.
Time seemed to slow as he turned his head, searching for the source of the danger. The air around them suddenly felt heavier, the heavy spiritual pressure of a Spirit Mystic level opponent filled with centuries of bloodlust and charged with a malevolence that targeted him directly set his nerves on edge.
"Get down!" Lassim shouted, his voice cutting through the stillness as he instinctively moved to intercept the threat. His halberd summoned in his hand, fully gripping the pole of his weapon, his body coiled like a spring as he prepared to twirl around to defend himself.
He desperately activated his [Lifestream Aegis] in the split second that he also caught Rylis and Eno reacting out of the corner of his eye, their expressions shifting from their idle and fun conversation about their work to alarm as they registered the sudden attack.
The construct too, growled low, its glowing and intelligent eyes snapping to the direction of the incoming danger. Its spikes flexed slightly, the conal tips beginning to glow faintly as though preparing for an attack.