Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

Eirwen, who has already recovered all of his Essence, closed the Runes and looked up at his teacher.

"Let's just get back to testing," Eirwen groaned, standing up. Andromeda quietly took the empty glass from his hands and hurried off to the compact kitchen inside the underground base. Eirwen could only assume she was going to bring food for them. If she had wanted to eat herself, she would've asked him first.

Gale nodded and summoned a new Memory, one he had only used a few times before. It was a teal trident, adorned with golden bells that jingled softly. The three jagged spikes that diverged from the shaft were sharp and jagged, designed to cut through space itself.

He spun the trident effortlessly in his hands, remembering its weight and balance. The golden bells chimed faintly with each spin.

"This is the Trident of the Drowned King," Gale introduced the Memory, his eyes full of pride. "It has two Enchantments: [Pressure] and [Ocean's Embrace].

[Pressure] adds a strange crushing effect to my thrusts, ignoring defenses," Gale explained. "Meanwhile, [Ocean's Embrace] summons water tentacles to hold enemies in place."

With a quick move, he thrust the trident into the ground. Gale looked at Eirwen with a sharp gaze, his voice loud. "We're going to test if you can copy either of these abilities. Your Aspect Ability doesn't specify it has to be another Aspect Ability you're copying, right? It only mentions an ability, so this experiment is worth trying.

Your Essence full?"

Eirwen nodded.

Gale looked up, giving a short command to the artificial intelligence embedded within the training facility. Moments later, three iron puppets slid out from the floor. Standing around six feet tall, the dummies were made of mundane iron, designed to be tough yet easily replaceable when damaged.

"Watch closely." His teacher said with his usual loud tone, pulling the trident out of the floor.

First Enchantment he used was [Pressure].

A blur was all Eirwen could see as Gale thrust his trident forward with blinding speed. His grip shifted smoothly from two hands to one, allowing the shaft to slide through his grasp briefly before locking it firmly with one hand again. That expanded his already long reach further.

Gale's fighting style was dirty and deadly. With his speed, he could dodge and attack at the same time, blinking around his enemy and keeping them constantly confused and on edge. 

Then on top of that speed he used rather long weapons -spears, naginatas or lances- most of the time.

Back when Eirwen first met Gale, he had asked why he didn't just use a dagger if he could appear behind his enemy so easily. Gale's response was strange but made sense: "I don't really wanna go close range against a Nightmare Creature and get stomped to death, you know."

When the trident connected with the dummy, only the tip of the middle spike made contact. Yet, in the next instant, the entire puppet imploded, as if it had been crushed by an overwhelming force.

'Shit I wasn't focused' Eirwen cursed, motioning for Gale to repeat.

Stretching out his palm again, Eirwen concentrated on Gale's movements and the way he used the trident. His eyes widened as he focused, imagining illusory chains wrapping around the weapon as Gale shot forward.

[Recording an Ascended Power]

The spell echoed in his mind, but this time he didn't feel like dying or exploding. The area around him also didn't start freezing.

No, this time it was much easier and even felt natural.

When the alien energy finally coiled around his fingers and into his palm, he immediately pressed it against his right eye.

[Recording finished. Destination: Archon of Wrath and Mercy's right eye]

[Ascended Memory Trident of the Drowned King's Enchantment: Pressure]

[Usages: Unlimited. Will be lost when the Host loses his eye]

[Potency: Same as original]

[Remove Recording?]

As the second puppet imploded, Eirwen staggered back, leaning down to catch his breath. His body had taken on a paler, bluish tone, drenched in sweat from the sudden exertion.

"Essence," He huffed, getting to one knee all of a sudden, "Good God, I'm drained"

Gale dismissed his weapon and walked towards his young friend. Andromeda was also on her way towards them, a large silver plate filled with food in her hands.

She nearly dropped the circular plate when she saw Eirwen sitting on one knee, clutching his chest. His body was drenched in sweat, glistening under the bright lights.

"You good? Last time there wasn't this reaction"

Gale was right, last time, after Eirwen heard the alien snap in his mind, his body was flooded with Essence, filling it up again.

'So, if I try to Record with low Essence, I might explode, but even if I record with full Essence, I get left exhausted. This is bad,' he concluded in his mind, sitting back on the floor.

The blonde-haired Eirwen waved off Gale's concerns with a dismissive gesture. "I'm good, just exhausted. Give me a moment."

---

While his Essence slowly refilled, the three of them sat around a table that Gale had pulled out of God knows where and ate the food that Andromeda had prepared.

"Since you were able to copy [Pressure], I'd recommend you keep it. Maybe swap out [Flash Step], but [Pressure] is too useful. With it, you can completely negate most defenses that Nightmare Creatures or humans might have. Their hides might be tough, but the insides are -most of the time- soft." Gale mumbled with a mouthful of jerky meat.

'I second this,' the chorus of countless voices resounded in his mind out of nowhere, startling him for a split second.

'By the way, do you think there is anything you can let me record from you?' Eirwen asked Leviathan in his mind.

'Probably, there are countless abilities at my disposal child. I will see if there is anything that your human body can manage,' the voices answered.

He nodded in response to both Leviathan and Gale and continued eating.

---

Clang Clang Clang

Two longswords clashed against each other hours later, the impacts sending sparks flying. The floor and walls cracked in places, showing just how strong the two of them were physically.

After testing everything, Gale had gathered enough information on Eirwen's abilities and Flaw to begin creating a personalized battle style for him.

From all the tests, it was clear that Eirwen could copy nearly anything that could be considered an Ability. A gun firing a bullet or a plane dropping a bomb weren't within his possibilities, but if an armour or item granted the ability to shoot bullets or drop bombs, he could replicate it. He would be able to shoot said bullets out of his fingers for example.

Same worked for Enchantments that required a weapon to work. It would simply use his body as the conduit instead.

Of course, there were limitations. When Eirwen tried to copy Andromeda's Aspect Ability, he was met with failure. Her ability allowed her to control the Aegis Mirror, an object Eirwen did not possess.

They also noticed that Recording consumed more than half of his Essence, but once the ability was recorded, using it required much less. However, if he tried to Record without enough Essence, he risked overloading his body and exploding. While dying wasn't an issue due to his immortality, the real problem was that he would lose the other Recording in the process.

Currently his Runes read:

Aspect Ability: [Frozen Reflection]

Recordings: [1/2]

Recording one: [Pressure]

"Focus!" Gale roared as his longsword suddenly slipped into Eirwen's side, little bit below his heart.

His eyes widened and he immediately pushed aside his thoughts, focusing purely on the battle.

He swung his sword in an upward arc toward Gale, ignoring the blade inside him. It was hard to ignore the pain though. But Gale was right, the more his teacher tortured him with this insane practice, the more he got used to it.

Gale's head shifted just an inch to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack from above. The sword Eirwen wielded struck his shoulder with a resounding clash, but instead of sinking in, it shattered upon impact.

Eirwen was now impaled on Gale's sword and left with no weapon himself.

He groaned, attempting to pull himself free, but Gale pushed against him, driving the sword in deeper. "Use this moment to your advantage!" Gale shouted. "Don't try to pull it out!"

Eirwen focused, pushing the pain to the back of his mind. How could he use this to his advantage?

Instead of resisting, he gripped Gale's wrists tightly and pulled the sword in deeper. His organs burned and his nerves screamed alongside his brain, but he didn't stop.

More and more blood pooled beneath them, as a plan started to form in his mind. The sword was now stuck deep inside him.

In this spar, they weren't allowed to use any external abilities, yet Eirwen opened his palm and thrust it forward, connecting solidly with Gale's face. The unexpected strike stunned his teacher for a moment.

"You fucking brat!" Gale growled, his anger slipping out for a second as he realized Eirwen's intention. In one swift motion, he sliced diagonally from Eirwen's side up to his shoulder, the blade cutting deep enough to nearly cleave his body in half.

Before Eirwen could activate [Pressure] on Gale's head, his entire arm was severed, falling to the floor in a gush of blood, splattering the area.

Armless, Eirwen stumbled backward, his torso gaping open diagonally. The clean cut across his whole upper body left him struggling to stay upright. Immense amount of blood was streaming down his body.

"You seriously tried to kill me just now?!" Gale roared; his voice filled with anger. He threw the sword aside, kneeling down to look at his student, who was writhing in agony on the ground. "I can die, unlike you, you know!"

Andromeda closed her eyes with her hands, so she didn't have to see the gruesome scene.

Eirwen gritted his teeth, cursing as he clutched his shoulder. The gaping wound on his torso was slowly closing, new organs and bones visibly formed. "I knew you'd defend yourself anyway, fucking dumbass!" he spat, his voice strained through the pain.

Gale face-palmed and tried to calm himself down. Completely ignoring Eirwen and his curses he stood up, "You can't be serious" he mumbled.

With his arm slowly regrowing he looked up at his teacher with anger, annoyed at him for constantly cutting him into pieces. There was a limit to how much he would endure.

Still, Eirwen knew himself he wouldn't do anything, he needed Gale after all.

'He will see' he promised to himself as the pain already faded, there was only anger left now.

"Let's conclude the testing for today. I have learned enough from the two of you for now. Might also contact some of my friends for a couple ideas," Gale said tiredly, rubbing his temple.

Andromeda finally looked up and noticed Eirwen sitting on his knees. The wound on his torso was fully closed, and his arm was already halfway regrown. Without a word, she stood up and rushed to his side. It was clear how concerned she was

"Oh, and by the way, I'm taking you two to the Undercity in the NQSC tomorrow. Andromeda, make sure this brat wakes up early enough," his teacher boomed before stepping into the elevator and leaving the underground facility.

Eirwen shot daggers at his retreating figure, but remained silent, sitting in his own pool of blood as he waited for his arm to regenerate.