At the far reaches of Gaia was a tiny island, more of an islet, a tiny place where nothing but a broken watchtower stood. Its closest source to civilization was the coast of the new continent filled with diamond ranked monsters that ruled the air, land and seas. Due to its proximity to certain death, it was mostly ignored, no one wanted it anyways, filled with discarded scraps tossed by mostly the explorer society. It was a refuse heap of metals and other exotic but broken items, a hollow mountain within it serving as the perfect spot for such venture. Unmanned, unwatched, and uncared for, except for once a month when metal wastes were brought to be melted in the volcanic fire within its hollow mountain filled with lava.

A large vessel appeared over it, made of mithril and the metal that was known as Aserite, built like both a transport and a war vessel, it boasted of weapon turrets as well as other minor weapons that could cut down a diamond ranker just fine. Landing at the base of the islet, its ramp opened up, a set of ascenders stepping out and into the ashy landscape of the islet. Everywhere they turned, a haze of smoke and ash filled the air, the land beneath their feet hot to the touch, but they were all experts, they could hardly feel it.

They were four in number, three dressed in silver and purple robes, muscular and deadly, their lethality evident with every step they took, eyes scanning around. One brought out a device, switching it on,

“no” the fifth man said, silver eyes glowing,

“No reconnaissance, stay with the ship, they know we’re around already” he said,

“Your safety is our mission, lord Boyle” another said,

Sect leader Boyle of the hammers of Ogun nodded, his gaze faraway,

“If I wanted protection, I’d had brought along enough constructs to subdue a clan” Boyle replied,

Drawing his cloak tighter to his frame, he turned to them,

“I mean it, stay with the ship, I can’t begin to explain to Irina that I lost one of her precious sentinels” Boyle said as the sentinels glanced at each other,

“we’re mid gold rankers, it would take a lot a bring us down” one said,

Boyle sighed, it was why he disliked dealing with the rank and file of the sentinels, while their efficiency with siege or defensive battles were unparalleled, their eye for strategy and tactics were next to zero. He chewed on his response, eyeing them before speaking,

“Alright, what do you see?” he asked,

“What do we see?” one asked,

“Around you, what do you see?” Boyle replied, waving around,

“Soot, ash, smoke, rocks?” another said,

Boyle nodded,

“True, to the average ascender, it is, what you’re actually standing on, are tiny little mana constructs, the version of Archailect nanobots if I could put it that way” Boyle said,

The sentinels froze,

“And if your next response is to unleash your powers, then I can assure you sentinels that you would be nothing but writhing pieces of meat in agony in a few seconds” Boyle warned as they prepared to draw their weapons,

“When I said they know we’re around, I meant them, the near infinite nanobots that call this place home, they and their leader” Boyle added,

“a lot of ascenders died here boys, let that sink in” Boyle said, turning to leave,

He remembered when Martha came to him with this proposition, he had just been bestowed with the planet Moltenheim and on his way to set up what would grow into a continent-wide clan kingdom. She had slipped through his metal guardians unannounced, Boyle pausing from where he was working on a cannon for Asa’s defense, he blinked as he noticed her on a seat, a tray of tea next to her. Shaking his head, he sat down,

“Guests usually announce their arrivals Martha” he said,

The lady of spiders smiled,

“True, but the great sect leader of the hammers has been unavailable, even for me, I came to check you” she replied,

Boyle shook his head,

“You knew where I was before coming, you always know where we all are at any given time Martha, what is it you really came for?” he asked,

Martha nodded,

“you’ve been overworking, Sonya said you’ve taken it upon yourself to ensure Asa’s defenses are all diamond rank, that’s a lot of resources poured into a domain we might eventually leave, even for a clan with deep pockets like ours” she said,

“It seems Sonya has been having a lot of free time on her hands” Boyle replied,

“don’t blame the poor child, you’re like a father to her, she sees the effort you put everyday, quite scary even for a diamond ranker” Martha nodded, glancing up at him,

“I’m fine” Boyle muttered picking up the teacup she poured for him,

Martha stared at him for a few seconds,

“It still bothers you, doesn’t it?” she asked softly,

Boyle dropped the cup, breathing calmly,

“No, my path has ensured all Moyo left behind lives in relative safety, I couldn’t be happier” he responded,

“Now you sound like a broken recording” Martha said, her voice cold,

Boyle glanced at her in surprise,

“we’ve been together from the very fucking first day Boyle, at least give me some credit” she continued,

Boyle’s mouth opened and closed, lost for words before finally nodding, shutting his weary eyes,

“I grow tired of battle Martha” he said softly,

“How bad is it?” she asked softly,

Boyle drummed his fingers on his arm rest, picking up threads of fine mithril that had been sliced to perfect ribbons and activated one of his skills,

Touch of the forger(R): this skill allows the user to create their envisioned project to life,

It was a simple skill, one he used when creating prototypes for different weapons for the sect to work on. It created a miniature glowing ball, floating a few meters above his palm,

“At first, it works” he said softly,

“what’s that?” Martha asked, staring at it intently,

“a light orb, something I wanted to create for those leaving outside the walls of dominion, where they struggle to live” Boyle replied,

“You know I’d let them all in if it weren’t for the em- “

Boyle raised his other hand, cutting Martha off,

“I know, believe me, I know, I hired some to work on a foundry a few days back” Boyle replied,

“Not that I needed it, just an excuse to get to give them some money, a few gold coins, goes a long way” he continued,

“I heard about it, it was not your fault” Martha said,

“Turns out the black dragons thought they were spies for the clan, one of them, a man I made friends with, he brought his child over one day to thank me” Boyle continued, as if not hearing her,

“The child brought his fathers’ head to the foundry, the blad dragons had wiped out his family and community” he finished, tears dropping from his eyes,

The orb in his hand exploded, like a ticking timebomb, Boyle tsking as he wiped the tear from his eyes,

“Everything I create, no matter the intention, always ends up a weapon of destruction” he said, gesturing to the now exploded orb,

Martha stared at the melted pieces of the orb,

“I ordered a total annihilation you know” Martha said as Boyle glanced at her,

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“The black dragon cells on Asa, I wiped them out, in secret, had their bodies dices into perfect cubes and sent back to the glorious empire” he continued,

“To Ba ji himself” she said,

“The leader of the empire?, why would you do that?” Boyle asked bewildered,

“Because the dragons are an arm of the empire, not officially recognized, like the yakuza of old, but an official one” Martha replied,

“I could wipe out the entire empire” Boyle said as all machineries in the room began to vibrate, aether burning through the atmosphere,

“Peace Boyle” Martha said, placing one hand on his as he calmed,

“We do that and we prove the points of the opposing and neutral factions” she said,

“That we’re greedy monsters accumulating power?” Boyle asked with a snort,

“That we’re monsters just waiting to be unleashed, that we want world domination” Martha replied,

Boyle eyed her,

“You want that, don’t you?” he said,

Martha gave a light smile,

“Economically, politically, information wise, not through might” she replied,

Boyle gave a weak smile,

“And the dragon cell members were half alive, chopped into finely diced pieces, but somehow held together in a semblance of existence by Samantha, she said it’s close to necromancy and wouldn’t do it again as it gave her the heeby jeebies, whatever those are” Martha said as Boyle chuckled,

“And how did the dragons take it?” Boyle asked,

“Ba ji sent a letter swearing to hunt them down one by one, the dragons sent a letter of all those whom they’ve freed from blood debts to them, they won’t so much as sneeze in our direction again” she replied,

Boyl nodded softly,

“You haven’t stated why you’re here Martha, anything Moyo needs?” he asked,

“No, let the titan blade play bob the builder and smasher on a galactic level, I came to help a friend, you” she said,

He raised an eyebrow as she dropped a folder on his table,

“You know you could had just sent it through the Hud, right?” he said,

Martha sipped her tea,

“where’s the suspense in that?” she replied as he chuckled,

It took him a minute to glance through it, glancing at her, and then back down,

“Is this legit?” he asked,

She raised an eyebrow,

“Right, sorry” he said with a chuckle,

But there was hope in his eyes.

He had immediately departed Asa along with the sentinels forcefully dropped on him by Martha and Irina, the vice of Josh for his protection. Now as he stood on the ashy soil of the islet, he couldn’t help but smile, scooping a heap of ash,

“ingenious” he said,

He moved closer to the mountain when his diamond ranked senses hummed, freezing in his tracks,

“you’re a wise man, whoever you are” a voice echoed around him,

Boyle smiled,

“Lining the very ground with semi-liquid mithril while covering it with our nanobots, speaks of ingenuity” Boyle replied,

The voice didn’t reply, as if shocked that someone actually knew what it was,

“Then you know better than to keep coming, beware, here ye be monsters!” the voice cried out,

“it’s actually here be dragons, that’s what written on the 1570 map” Boyle corrected,

The voice paused again as if confused and then spoke,

“Alright, you asked for it old man” it said with a huff,

“Old man?” Boyle said with a smile as he moved,

He watched as figures crawled out of the volcano, dripping magma and glowing. Mithril skin bright red, they looked like puppets, except they gave off the power of mid-tier gold rank, eyes glowing. Boyle paused,

“I come in peace” he shouted,

“Lies!, you all want the same thing!” the voice shouted,

The puppets were five in number, standing on the tip of the opening as they stretched hands out to him, no doubt preparing to attack,

“How do I prove I’m not here to fight?” Boyle asked,

The voice paused, again, as if unsure,

“I don’t know, do something unharmful” it replied,

Boyle smiled sadly,

“I wish young one, but that’s the thing, everything I create is harmful” he responded,

“Young one?, I’m a grown man!” the voice shouted in indignation,

Boyle gave a heart laughter, nodding,

“of course, of course, I apologize oh great and powerful man” he replied,

“State your intentions!” the voice said softly,

Boyle glanced around, eyes glowing as he spoke,

“Those that came to do you harm, their bodies are buried beneath the ash, aren’t they?” he said softly,

The voice didn’t reply immediately,

“They wanted to take me, to lock me away for their use” the voice said softly,

Boyle didn’t reply at first,

“You know what they call you out there?” he said,

“No…..what?” the voice asked hesitantly,

“The artificer, your legend as a gold ranker has grown, although most people don’t know where you are or even who you are” Boyle responded,

“one of the ten kings of Gaia, they say your method of fighting is so unorthodox and unpredictable that to come for you is to come for death” he said,

“what’s that?” the voice asked,

“What?” Boyle asked,

“That word, unothordy” the voice said softly,

Boyle smiled,

“Unorthodox, it means not the usual way or accepted ways of doing something” he replied,

“Does it mean I’m special?” the voice asked,

“Yes, and I believe so, and I want to help you” Boyle said,

“How?” the voice asked,

“I read about you, how many factions and individual sects have tried to either forcefully take you or even conquer your island, and how no traces of you have been found except from your constructs” Boyle started,

“The red-handed devil” he said, pointing to the first mismatched construct with a red hand,

“Its ability to wield magma fire, pure fire and create exploding magma bubbles that have a life of its own and keeps spreading” he said,

“The silent blade” he said, pointing to the second construct that looked like a ball with blades shooting out from its body,

“With the ability to rotate in any angle and fire blades that sting with electrocution while somehow mending itself continuously”

“The manacles, once clamping itself on an ascender, absorbs their aether to funnel to the rest of your constructs” Boyle said,

On and on, he listed out the powers of the constructs known to him, his eyes poring over everything he had memorized. When he was done, he paused,

“You know what that tells me?” he asked,

Again, the voice paused before answering,

“That I’m dangerous?” it asked,

Boyle shook his head softly, the tone of the voice had told him exactly all he needed to know, and his heart ached,

“That you were forced to become this way, that you did it to protect something or someone, and I couldn’t be more proud of you” he replied,

The voice gave no answer, Boyle continued, hands stretched out,

“All these, the ash, the soot, even the volcano, they aren’t some grand project” he said as he stood up with a smile,

“They come right from something future generations might never get to experience, a science project” he said,

“The mind of a very brilliant child” he said as the voice huffed,

“My apologies, adult man” he said with a chuckle,

“Your innovative methods to defending yourself says it all, and I know, that you’re in pain” he said softly,

“Whatever it is you’re protecting, whoever it is, I swear it on the name of the titan blade and on clan titan blade as well as the Archailect that will do whatever I can to protect them” he swore as a loud gong echoed and he felt the oath tighten around his chest,

“The titan blade is a myth” the voice said, hesitant but hopeful,

Boyle smiled,

“he’s real, and I know him, and if he was here, he’d storm off in anger to find those who’ve hurt you” he replied,

The voice went silent,

“I didn’t come here to get you, I came here to convince you that you don’t have to stay hidden any longer, your mind can dream up powerful inventions that can change the world, and it doesn’t have to be destructive” he said,

“a spatial home bread delivery machine?” the voice asked,

Boyle paused, and then laughed, for the first time in a while, a genuine laughter,

“Yes, and whatever inventions you desire” he responded,

“I still want to make weapons though, just, not, everytime, you know?” the voice said,

Boyle nodded,

“Whatever you want to do, the sky is your starting point” he replied,

The constructs folded themselves together as they grew hot, heat coming from their melting bodies that merged together,

“I know why they couldn’t find you” Boyle said as he smiled,

“There wasn’t anyone to find on the island, was there?” he continued,

The metals stopped fusing, forming a large ball that began to shape itself into a humanoid form,

“it’s because the entire island is you” he finished,

Standing in front of him was a child made of mithril, lines of aether running across its form like veins, staring up at him calmly,

“You said you can protect me and whoever I’m protecting” it said, speaking,

Boyle nodded, crouching down to eye level,

A roar of a vessel bearing down from the skies drew the attention of the both of them, its colors were unknown, but its intentions were obvious. Boyle growled as he stretched his hand out and a large glowing rifle formed in it,

“Wrong move” he growled as he prepared to shoot it down with diamond ranked intent,

The child raised one hand up, pointing one finger at it,

“POP” he commanded,

The vessel swelled and exploded, raining down over them as the pieces of metal coalesced together before seeping into the ground, body parts included from the dead ascenders. They had been silver rank, and Boyle had spied a crest on one of the torn clothes, a shield with seven scimitars. He’d get Martha to look into it, turning to the child,

“I had no- “

“I know, they’ve been trying to get me for a while now” the child replied,

“Not me in particular, my constructs for whatever twisted ideas they have” he finished,

Boyle stared at the now empty spot where the vessel had submerged, shuddering softly, whatever ideas he had about the child, he was still a king, he was peak gold and deadly. The only reason he hadn’t ascended to diamond was the unavailability of such creatures on the islet and him avoiding leaving the islet, he would do well to remember that. The child turned to him, tapping the ground with his metal feet as the ashy sands parted and something rose out of it. A red crystal, and within it, a body, that of a young child, frozen within it. The metal child turned to him,

“that’s your body?” Boyle asked,

The child nodded softly,

“When the Archailect hit, the last thing I remembered was wishing I had a stronger body, I was born with down syndrome you see, and I watched as my home was swallowed in the explosion as I was flung out of my chair in the garden, broken bones and all” the child explained,

Boyle stared at the metal child,

“I woke up as liquid mithril, without form, and I had to survive, gaining nutrient oddly from killing creatures, and soon enough, by consuming other metals as well, and as I found soon enough, other humans” the child said,

That explained where the bodies of the dead ascenders went,

“I expanded overtime, realizing that I could take human shape for some time before growing weak, but when I became a bronze ranker, I could take it indefinitely, albeit with some weaknesses” he said,

Boyle smiled sadly,

“The falling, that was you, wasn’t it?” he asked,

The child nodded,

“I was hunted by the Bharat empire, I escaped by sea, floating in the endless water as I grew weaker and weaker, thill I learnt to survive, to grow, to consume and I am what I am today” the child said,

“And I’m not alone” he finished as more crystal coffins rose,

Boyle stared, startled at the bodies of children within it,

“The fall was me recuing children imprisoned by the Bharat empire because they were the children of rebels, to be killed when their parents refused to cooperate” the child said,

“And when I did, something I did affected them, their minds left their bodies” the child said hesitantly,

Boyle froze, the realization sinking in, glancing around as constructs rose from the ashes,

“They call you the artificer because you can imbue powers into objects” he said,

“But they weren’t powers, were they?, they were souls” he finished,

“I didn’t mean to” the child argued, shaking his head,

Boyle nodded,

“I know, I see that, and I promise to help” he said softly,

“To help all of you” he said as he turned to them,

“Your lives were taken from you, and you’ve all had to survive here, but I promise you, I’ll do my best to bring you home” he said,

“To make you whole, to ensure you all don’t have to run or live in fear any longer” he finished, almost as a whisper,

The children in metal bodes glanced at each other, before nodding, Boyle feeling a great weight lift from his chest,

“Where are we going?” a child asked, a small one who had great difficulty moving, as if he hadn’t used them in a long while,

“Safety, we’re going to safety” Boyle replied with a smile.