Chapter 137: 136. Who Dares Test Whom
1.
"...How long has it taken so far?"
[About two weeks?]
I made it sound quick, but... it had been a rather time-consuming job.
It already felt like Ruby’s summer break was nearing its end.
At the very least... I wanted to make it for her before the break was over.
"Let’s get right to it."
The remaining two tasks were arranging the sunlight and wind spirit stones properly.
The direction in which their power flowed into the Azure Cloudstone would change depending on where I placed them.
And naturally, the best option was...
"...Carving them, obviously."
I would carve each spirit stone and use it as an ornament on top.
That was the basic setup for an insignia, after all.
Though I had to make sure the clouds inside wouldn’t be obscured.
"Yuna, can you bring up the blueprint?"
[Mm-hm.]
I tapped the completed Azure Cloudstone base with my finger and asked her to project it onto the screen.
A hologram soon floated before my eyes.
Scribble, scribble...
I sketched designs over the hologram, considering which one would look best.
I tried placing the carvings in the center, then immediately erased them.
The clouds were the pretty part. Covering them up would be a waste.
"Let’s put them around the edges..."
First, the wind spirit stone.
I carved it thin and long, then tried arranging it so that it wrapped around the underside of the Azure Cloudstone.
It began at one end, followed along the bottom, and curled slightly upward at the opposite end.
As though it were a gust of wind supporting the clouds.
Of course, no design choice was meaningless.
In the end, the wind energy within the spirit stone would be supporting the Azure Cloudstone’s clouds.
And on top...
"..."
A round sun rose.
I was trying to go for that kind of impression, but this made the sunlight far too assertive.
So, what should I do?
In the upper-right corner... as if the sun were partially hidden behind the clouds.
Like it was just peeking its head out from behind them.
If I carved and fitted in only that portion...
"...That works."
Blue wind below, red sunlight above.
And between them, the clouds revealed by the Azure Cloudstone.
This way... it looked like I had set an entire sky into it.
Let’s do it.
The simulation was over.
I melted Whiteheart Iron into a circular rim.
Then I encased the Azure Cloudstone base within that rim.
And then...
Scrape...
I picked up the wind spirit stone first and began carving it.
I had no intention of disturbing the wind inside it.
If I carved carelessly, I could sever the natural grain unique to the mineral. I had to be careful...
Scrape... scrape...
I gradually rotated the stone, shaving away small portions at a time.
As the thick chunk was carved into a long, slender shape, the blue current within it adjusted itself to match.
Whooo...
"...Ah."
The final step was recreating the curling tip of the wind.
When I bent it slightly and curled it inward, the curves that had been jutting out every which way... well, they looked quite a bit like wind now.
If someone were drawing blue wind on a sketchpad, this was surely how they would depict it.
That was what I had been aiming for.
"That’s done."
The wind spirit stone was finished.
Next was the sunlight spirit stone.
Throb.
Our little sunlight was still nice and warm.
I brought my eyes close to peer inside it and got blasted by the glare instead.
"Damn it..."
In the end, I had to put on [Totality: Vision] before I could carve it while adjusting the inside.
Perhaps because I was a Sun Dwarf, carving a sunlight shape had become far too familiar by now.
Scrape... scrape...
I carved it slightly smaller than a semicircle to fit the outline of the clouds, leaving needle-like pieces around its edge to represent the sun’s rays.
I set the finished carvings down on the workbench.
"Now."
All that remained was putting them together.
"Overlay the hologram, Yuna."
Bzzzz...
The blueprint I had just drawn overlaid itself atop the Azure Cloudstone that would serve as the base.
A blue wind-shaped ornament and a sunlight-shaped ornament.
I could see exactly where each ornament needed to go.
Click.
I first slotted the blue wind into the lower section and held it in place with my fingertips.
Hummm...
The energy within the spirit stone gradually began to seep into the Azure Cloudstone.
Clack...
Next, I pressed the sunlight ornament into the upper-right corner.
Click.
The instant the sunlight found its place... light shone over the clouds.
And then...
Swoosh...
Something I had not been able to see in the blueprint.
The interior of the completed insignia began to move.
The clouds shifted little by little, circulating within it.
The small sun peeked out from behind the clouds... then, as they flowed, it would be revealed and hidden once again.
"The sky..."
It felt as though I were looking at a real sky.
I inspected the joints one more time and brushed off the remaining dust.
Then... I placed it upon my palm.
"...It’s done."
Smiling, I held the insignia up to the light.
The sky our princess would ride upon.
"Lovely weather."
And then.
Something appeared before my eyes.
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[Equal to Heaven] [★★★★✦]
[Dedicated Equipment] [Compatibility] [110/110]
[Designated User: Ruby von Dolores]
─────────────────
『Is there any reason to look up merely because the sky is high?』
『You are the sky itself.』
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[Exclusive Binding]
[This equipment has been configured according to the senses and body of its wearer: Ruby von Dolores.]
[All functions are linked to the designated user’s innate abilities.]
[No one other than the designated user may unlock this equipment’s power.]
─────────────────
Once again, dedicated equipment.
As if there had ever been any doubt, its compatibility was completely maxed out at 110.
Then something else scrolled down before my eyes.
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[Cloud Catcher]
[Summon and command the clouds of the Heavenly Realm into the mortal realm.]
[Freely adjust the form, size, and density of summoned clouds.]
[Clouds gain physical substance only for the wearer and those permitted by the wearer.]
[Dispersed clouds are retrieved into the insignia and may be reassembled.]
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[Above Heaven and Below Earth] [Cooldown] [24 hours]
[For a set duration, declare the space around the wearer to be their own sky.]
[Gain control over all clouds and air currents within the domain. In a clash with other authorities, the outcome is determined by rank.]
[Clouds may be instantly formed anywhere within the domain, and the wearer may leap between formed clouds.]
[Greatly reduces the cost of maintaining allied spirits manifested in the domain.]
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[I Alone Am Supreme]
[Absorb impacts inflicted upon clouds and convert them into propulsion.]
[Impact generated through landing, leaping, attacks, and defense may be accumulated.]
[Release the accumulated force in any desired direction to execute rapid acceleration, abrupt stops, and changes of direction.]
[Released propulsion is amplified in proportion to the wearer’s physical strength and spirit affinity.]
[The burden of recoil and inertia transmitted to the wearer is distributed throughout all clouds.]
─────────────────
"This is insane..."
This equipment’s abilities seemed to be entirely focused on mobility.
It could summon clouds to create footholds, then even turn the impact from stepping on them into propulsion.
It even had a domain declaration ability.
It seemed my wish for it to become Ruby’s feet had gotten through.
What especially caught my attention was...
[Released propulsion is amplified in proportion to the wearer’s physical strength and spirit affinity.]
The stronger Ruby became, the faster the Somersault Cloud would become.
And since the clouds absorbed the recoil and inertia, there was no need to worry about her body being flung away.
The princess rides a cloud.
For real—she rides it unbelievably well.
And then.
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[Eight Trigrams Furnace: Xun Palace · Li Palace] [Cooldown] [30 minutes]
[Xun Palace: Precisely control the direction, speed, and pressure of air currents under your command.]
[Li Palace: Focus sunlight and convert it into heat. Control the distribution and points of release of the heat produced.]
[When both palaces are opened simultaneously, condense high-temperature, high-pressure air currents within the clouds.]
[Release the condensed air currents to unleash a scorching tempest in a designated direction.]
[The release path may be linked to the trajectory of the primary weapon’s swing.]
─────────────────
The final hidden ability appeared.
"Xun Palace... Li Palace...?"
What was this?
Those rather unfamiliar terms took me a moment to understand.
[This... is the Eight Trigrams.]
[Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui. Do you know them?]
"No, of course I don’t."
What were the Eight Trigrams?
Eight Trigrams Furnace... I felt like I had heard of it somewhere before.
Waiting for an explanation, I reread the text floating before me.
[Xun represents wind, while Li represents fire or the sun. They correspond to the power of the two spirit stones you set into it.]
"...Ah."
The wind spirit stone was Xun Palace.
The sunlight spirit stone was Li Palace.
Ah, I remembered the Eight Trigrams Furnace now.
Wasn’t that the prison the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had been locked inside?
The incredibly hot one.
So... did it classify the two spirit stones used in the crafting process as parts of the Eight Trigrams Furnace?
And it even...
"It fires heat storms too."
I had imagined a gentle harmony between sunlight and wind, but I never imagined she would be able to control and use them this freely.
I looked down at the insignia in my palm.
And at last, the Origin Script unfolded.
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『Endure adversity, for it too is Heaven’s will?』
『What foolish words. Who dares test whom?』
- Great Sage Equal to Heaven, during his battle against the Tathagata in the Great Havoc in Heaven -
『Hahahaha! You grasp your staff and stand upon the clouds? Go forth, then! Who could possibly stop you now!』
- Fighting Victorious Buddha -
『Why, once again....』
- Nezha, Third Lotus Prince and Great God of the Three Altar Sea Assembly -
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Someone laughed, while someone else despaired.
It even included quotations from the past.
Just as I was reading through words whose meaning I could not understand...
Ding!
[The creation of 「Equal to Heaven」 has been confirmed.]
[There are currently no clouds of the Heavenly Realm bound to it.]
"...Huh?"
A new message appeared immediately afterward.
[The creator is granted a one-time opportunity to personally select a cloud of the Heavenly Realm.]
A cloud?
"Me...?"
[The selected cloud will be delivered to the exclusive binding target.]
[Would you like to enter the Sea of Clouds of the Heavenly Realm?]
"..."
W-wait a second...
This was way too sudden!!!
I set down the insignia and backed away.
Cloud Catcher.
Did that really mean I had to go on a business trip and catch a cloud myself?
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