Mana infusion has failed.

I let out an annoyed huff as I sat back on my arms. I have tried and failed so many times attempting to infuse Oblivion into the steel. No matter how many times I tried, the mana would appear and touch the surface of the steel before sizzling out of existence. Each time I tried, I felt Alaric stir on my chest. Maybe if I pulled him out and talked to him, it could provide me with some insight on the matter.

“Alaric come out, we need to have a talk.” I mentally prodded him, and I felt him stir. While he was in my chest, he didn't exactly have a body. He was just an existence; it was when he left that his body solidified into something tangible.

I saw his red eyes open, followed by an obstinate glare as it dragged its way from its home. A black portal appeared above my chest, and it slunk out like a cat and sat across from me. “You called?” He asked with a silky smooth voice, something that I would not have expected to hear from a creature like him.

“Yes, I have some questions for you involving the use of Oblivion.” I sat forward and crossed my legs and rested my arms on my lap.

“I see.” Alaric spun around once and sat down on the floor and gazed at me with his red eyes.

“Let's start with the basics, what is Oblivion.”

Alaric tilted his head and blinked a few times. “Oblivion is something that can’t be explained in a simple statement. It is something that exists yet doesn't.” Alaric stood up on his short stubby legs and grabbed one of the steel ingots with his stubby clawed hands and dragged it over. “Let's take this, for example. It exists, yes?”

“Yes, it does,” I replied to him, unsure of what he was trying to get at.

He then sat in front of the steel ingot and stretched his body out and covered it. “Now, if you never knew it existed, does it exist?”

I looked at him and mulled deeply over what he was trying to say. “Then, no? It wouldn’t exist.” I hesitantly replied since I wasn’t sure what he was trying to get at.

Alaric pulled his body back into its original shape and sat down; the steel ingot was still there. “No, it would still exist, you would just be ignorant of it. Which is what Oblivion is. It exists, yet it also doesn’t. However, I know that still doesn’t answer your question, so allow me to pose you another. Do you know what sits between life and death?” His arm turned into a paw, and he began to lick it with a jet black tongue like a cat would, giving me time to ponder his question.

What existed between both? When I was human, I never really gave much thought to what existed after death. Even now, I still did not honestly know what existed after life. I know what I can create and give to my mortals. But between, I had no idea. “I honestly don’t know the answer to that.”

He dropped his paw, and it transformed back into the unique claw shape that he had before. “That’s unsurprising. Not many ponder what's between both, even fewer know the truth. But what lies between both, is Oblivion. It's neither life, nor death. It exists and doesn’t. There is no word in any of your languages that can encompass what it is. It is nothing yet everything. It always has been, and never will be.”

My head swam with the new information that he was feeding me. Part of it started to make sense, yet my head began to hurt as I tried to understand. “I’m not going to lie to you. I only partially understand what you are saying.”

Alaric shrugged, “I don’t blame you. It's a difficult concept to grasp, especially for living beings. But that's all I can give you. The rest you have to figure out on your own. Do you have any more questions for me? I would like to go back soon. It is painful being aware of my existence.”

I thought over the list of questions that I could have for him, and another came to mind. “Oh yeah. I saw something about an entity of Oblivion coming after me. What does that mean.”

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“You see. Oblivion only exists in relation to something. If nothing else exists, neither does it, but once something does, it exists and becomes agitated, and lashes out. Which typically happens when a universe or whatever you beings call it is born. Then it rages, cause you have disrupted its natural state. It pierces the veil between it and this universe, and creates its version of life and attempts to restore order.”

That was informative. “I understand. Thank you, Alaric.” Alaric slithered around me and nodded his head.

“You are very welcome. May I return home now? This existence is very uncomfortable, and is growing painful by the moment.”

“Sure, but before you go, how do I learn some Oblivion related skills? I'm trying to increase my repertoire for attacks.”

Alaric tilted his head once more before turning back down and looking at me. “I only have a few. I am only as strong as you are. But what is it you are looking for?”

“I need something to act as a disengage tool, to push people off of me if they get too close,” I told him after I quickly thought through what I needed.

“Hmm, I don’t have anything that can be explicitly used as such a thing. But ill go through what I have and let you know. Anyways, Cao.” Alaric created a portal and vanished, leaving me in the forge area. That was an insightful conversation, and it helped me understand a few things, even if I don't quite get all of it.

I turned my attention back to the steel ingot that was in front of me. So Oblivion was out of the question, at least for now, until I learned how to use it properly. That just left me with seeing if I can merge mana from another dimension with this steel ingot.

I closed my eyes, and my vision was replaced with a vast pure mana ocean. Mana is inherently pure, at least from my understanding. However, once you shift it to certain elements is when it changes its form, which makes wielding pure mana almost impossible. However, due to my status as an Administrator, I know that there are classes that allow for it and even a class that wields it like a melee weapon.

I pulled a string of mana out of that ocean and felt a slight tugging sensation in my chest in response to the mana being drained. I opened my eyes, and a small ball of mana materialized in the palm of my hand. Now I had to switch the mana into a usable form. However, unlike the mortal mages, I already had an idea of what I needed to do to change my mana quickly into something else. I forced it into the familiar formation, and it took on a light blue hue that seemed to flicker in the light and fade into nothingness before returning. This was transdimensional mana. It could slip between the fabrics of reality like it was nothing, though what lay beyond, who knows. That's something that I would gladly explore once I got some time.

I concentrated it before I pressed it into the steel ingot. It lit up for a second as the mana rushed from a small rotating sphere and into the awaiting metal. The metal absorbed the mana greedily, like a man who was devoid of water for weeks.

Slowly but surely, the steel started to change. The original color started to fade and was replaced by a glittering rainbow of translucent colors. It was as if the metal absorbed sunlight and held it inside.

The transfusion is complete. You have created a new form of steel. What would you like to name it?

I reached out and grabbed the steel ingot. It felt odd to the touch. It wasn’t cold, yet it wasn’t hot. It felt heavy, yet it was also impossibly lightweight. This was a new form of steel? But how does mana change its properties? I moved the steel ingot around as the notification kept blinking on my hud. But what shall I name this? I gently tossed the steel ingot in the air and was amazed at how it floated for a second before it came crashing down harder than I would have thought from something that was so light. This was an exciting metal. So its name should reflect that.

I used dimensional magic, so the name should start with something like that. After I bounced a few ideas around my head for a while, I decided that I will stick with slip steel. It was a simple name and didn’t stray too far from what I wanted.

I stood up and dusted my legs off and grabbed the ingot of slip steel, and walked over to Ferrarus. “Hey, I couldn’t use Oblivion, so I used another type of meta.” I tossed it over to him. The ingot seemed to travel slower than usual through the air as it glided over to Ferrarus, who deftly caught it.

“Oh, this is an interesting piece.” He mused to himself as his stomach area cracked and ripped itself open. A row of facsimile teeth lined the now open maw, and pure darkness was what lay behind that. He threw the ingot into the mouth, and the maw snapped shut. The sound of metal being ground filled the room, which hurt my ears a fair amount. So that's how he ate. “I see. Thank you for the information. What would you like me to make with this?”

“Can you make me a new set of weapons? I like my current set, but I want something made here. Also, can you add in a few extra blades?” I told him in response. I was thankful that the sound finally ended. It was starting to give me a massive headache.

“That I can do.” He told me as his arm started to shift into the new metal, which he promptly broke a piece off and set it onto the table. Now it was just time to wait.