Chapter 38: Weapon
"Weapon?" Panni was somewhat perplexed.
"You see, this is a modified rodent," explained the artificer. "The crystal on its forehead is a scale from a Time Dragon, granting it the ability to freeze time within a certain range three times a day. Additionally, it is perpetually under the effects of haste, and will never be slowed by any spell."
"A scale from a Time Dragon?" Panni gazed in astonishment at the dark crystal on the creature's forehead. The significance of this item was immense.
The Time Dragon was an exceedingly rare breed, to the extent that many were uncertain of its existence in the multiverse, becoming more of a legend than a reality.
Undoubtedly, the Time Dragons were the most powerful among dragonkind. Even newly hatched Time Wyrmlings possessed the innate ability to manipulate the flow of time, capable of confronting even the mightiest deities. However, these dragons were often consumed with traversing the streams of history and future, their solitary and peculiar nature making encounters with mortals, let alone deities, exceedingly rare.
"Don't be surprised. This was my mentor's possession. In his youth, he once roamed the multiverse... Ah, but I digress. Let us continue," interjected the artificer after a pause. "Furthermore, I have enhanced its lineage. Even on the material plane, it can seamlessly blend into the shadows. Have you noticed its four claws? They possess the power to dispel magic, allowing it to move freely within any magical barrier. I forgot to mention, its bones are infused with adamantine, and its teeth are always sharp with advanced magic, despite its small size. Do not underestimate its destructive potential."
Panni furrowed his brow. Indeed, a rodent with such diverse abilities was a formidable creature. "However, Mr. Pasca, a simple Disjunction spell would reduce this powerful weapon to a mere common mouse."
"Do you think I haven't considered that?" The metallic body of the artificer emitted a creaking sound. "In fact, this experiment has been ongoing for over four millennia. The specimen you see now is no longer the same one I initially experimented with."
Panni nodded in understanding. It could be imagined that transforming a mere rodent into such an entirely different creature was an experiment of exceedingly high difficulty and technological prowess. It would be quite normal for such a complex experiment to fail hundreds of times.
"This is the 24,273rd descendant of the original experimental generation. You see, although as resilient as rodents are, they find it challenging to accept such supernatural alterations. However, if I force them to accept these changes over thousands of years, it triggers the theory of evolution, and their bloodlines have altered to the extent of generating these abilities on their own," the artificer explained. "Do you mean to say that the Disjunction spell can disrupt the magical effects brought about by their bloodline?"
"Are you saying you've created an entirely new species?" Panni was genuinely astonished this time. Regardless of any mutual suspicions between them, upon hearing the origin of this rodent, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. Spending over four thousand years secluded in a shadowy demi-plane to create a new species was far more commendable than any biologist's achievements.
"You could say that, but it hasn't been entirely successful," the artificer replied, his metallic fingers caressing the transparent light barrier surrounding the "rodent." "One crucial element is still missing."
"The most crucial element?"
Pointing to the motionless rodent, the artificer explained, "The soul. I chose rodents as experimental subjects because their life forms are neither too high nor too low, possessing excellent malleability and resilience to withstand the injuries caused by such alterations. However, their souls are too weak to adapt to such bodies. The subsequent offspring born after this experiment have been in a semi-lifeless state from birth. Over these four millennia, I have orchestrated the reproduction of these specimens single-handedly."
Panni shuddered, an unsettling image appearing in his mind—this automaton capturing two rodents, engaged in a mechanical cycle of experimentation and reproduction over twenty thousand times in these four millennia. What kind of spirit endured such a procedure?
"No soul, regardless of how mighty the power, remains mere ornamentation. Our experiment's essence is to bestow upon it a soul," the artificer proclaimed. "I have frequently attempted to infuse various souls, such as those of high-ranking magical beings, monsters, and even dragons, yet they all swiftly dissipated, unable to stabilize within this vessel. Could it be that the potency I've endowed it with is too overwhelming? It makes no sense that even the soul of a dragon couldn't endure... Hence, I believe my experimental direction has gone awry. Recently, I've had a notion: since existing souls fail to adapt to this form, perhaps I can fabricate a suitable one using soul matter."
Pausing, the automaton's tone lightened. "Recent experiments have suggested that my direction of thought seems to be correct. I've also formulated a mature plan. Today marks the commencement of its execution, a profoundly significant day for me."
Growing increasingly fervent, it continued, "In these four millennia, the bloodline of this entity has transformed to a degree beyond my fathoming. If I can shape a qualified soul for it, there will assuredly be more power waiting to be unearthed, far beyond what I've just described!"
"Listen well!" With a gesture, the artificer opened a fissure in the nearby space. Advanced spellcasters often place their treasures within the interstice between souls and the magical web. Panni's heart skipped a beat as he saw the artificer produce three gleaming vials. Subtly lowering his eyelids, he watched as the automaton set the vials aside. "Prepare these three souls according to my instructions..."
Following the artificer's directives, Panni shattered the three soul fragments, originally belonging to himself, upon the spell array of the modulation platform. After mixing and arranging them within the apparatus, the soul fragments eventually transformed into blank soul essence. Following the artificer's further manipulation, the three substantial soul fragments turned into ten smaller soul crystals.
Throughout these procedures, Panni's brain experienced a faint pang, and even after their completion, he still sensed a lingering connection between his consciousness and these soul fragments.
He cast a fleeting glance at the "rat" within the light barrier, a daring notion sprouting in his mind.
"These soul crystals seem to possess rather low quality," the artificer remarked, evidently unaware of his assistant's subtle abnormality and ulterior motives. After inspecting this batch of newly crafted soul crystals, he sensed a slight deficiency in their composition. He voiced his discontent before setting them aside, then retrieved another batch of nearly a hundred identical soul crystals, placing them on the experimentation platform. Addressing Panni, he instructed, "Implant these in the specimen according to my directions."
Panni nodded and dropped one soul crystal into a test tube atop the modulation platform. Arcane radiance illuminated as the soul crystal transformed into a beam of light, flowing through the fluid trough of the modulation platform and into the central platform housing the specimen. Subsequently, a faint glow emanated from the spell array before dissipating, and the soul essence flowed back into the test tube.
Crack!
The artificer flung the re-condensed crystal to the ground, shattering it. Under the intense impact, the soul essence swiftly dissipated. Pascal's voice echoed coldly, "Repulsion reaction, failure. Next one."
Panni hesitated briefly, then picked another new soul crystal. Following the same procedure, the crystal also experienced repulsion and was casually thrown to the ground.
"Next one!"
The third soul crystal entered the experimental slot, resulting in a moderate explosion. The soul essence directly dissipated into the air, and the protective barrier of the experimentation platform dimmed slightly, indicating wear on the spell array. This outcome caused Panni's eyelids to twitch.
"Repulsion reaction, next one."
"Severe repulsion, next one."
"Failure, replace it..."
Listening to Pascal's instructions, several consecutive experiments were conducted, with repulsion or explosion occurring in most cases. Only a very few soul crystals could safely enter the platform. Each time this happened, the rat's fur on the platform would begin to emit a gentle glow, accompanied by faint noises from the illusionary enchantment released by Panni.
However, each time, the glowing fur would quickly dim, and the soul essence would either dissipate or flow back. It seemed that success had never been achieved.
The noise emanating from the artificer grew increasingly frequent and raucous.
Panni calculated the probability of accidents, steadied his mind, and selected a small piece from the ten soul crystals in the far corner. Placing it into the test tube, he casually activated the spell array.
The radiance formed from the soul essence flowed toward the experimental platform.
At the moment of contact with the platform, there was no explosion, and Panni secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He then watched as the light entered the light barrier, causing faint white lights to flicker on the rat's fur. His pupils dilated, and his breath became slightly hurried.
After a dozen consecutive failures, Pascal, who had been routinely recording the experiment, suddenly noticed that the anomaly in the center of the platform had lasted for five seconds. His attention immediately focused, and the noise emanating from his body ceased entirely.
Five seconds...
Ten seconds...
Twenty seconds...
The gloss on the rat's fur persisted, and at the same time, Panni felt as though his consciousness had connected with something. It was as if he had gained an additional appendage on his body. He attempted to send a mental signal and observed as the rat's paw on the experimental platform lightly twitched in response.
Then Panni felt the connection beginning to fray and dissipate, as if it had consumed a great deal of energy, and the glow on the rat's fur surface began to dim.
"Continue! Supplement the essence! Keep going!" Clearly, the artificer also noticed this, and the constant illusionary enchantment emitted an intense roar.
Panni hurriedly dropped the second identical soul crystal.
The connection immediately strengthened, while he felt as if a small part of his consciousness had appeared in the rat's head.
It was as if a person had two simultaneously awake heads, which was extremely discordant. He felt as if he were sometimes human, and at other times had turned into a strange rat.
The rat's body began to tremble slightly, and the artificer trembled with excitement, his body emitting oil all over. Suddenly, as if going mad, he smashed a large pile of soul crystals into the most primitive soul essence, dispersing it into the center of the experimental platform. Panni shivered, feeling the connection between himself and the bizarre rat's soul begin to fade, but that part of the soul still remained independently within the rat's body.
This further generated a quasi-startup effect, with the center of the experimental platform devouring the surrounding soul essence like an eye of the storm. Panni's consciousness gradually broke free from the chaos, but he felt that his connection with the rat had become somewhat elusive.
A new soul was incubating and being born within the rat's body.
If his soul's proportion in it could be larger, guiding the completion of this process, perhaps he could master this "weapon," Panni thought to himself.
The soul essence at the center of the experimental platform gradually thinned, and the rat's soul seemed to be nearing successful incubation.
"Excellent! Excellent! I have finally succeeded; this is a great experiment! A magnificent experiment!" The golem danced with excitement, evidently completely detached from mechanical thinking due to excessive excitement. Cheering, he said to Panni, "Don't move, observe carefully! Await the results."
Another GEAS.
Panni's heart sank.
When the experiment truly ended, it would be irreversible.
Panni's eyes darted around, and he quickly came up with an idea, "Master, congratulations on your success. But may I ask, for what purpose did you create this weapon?"
"Why?" The golem, Pascal, was puzzled for a moment, repeating, "Why?"
"Indeed, every action must have a reason. If one undertakes something without reason, wouldn't it be meaningless?" Panni pressed on.
"Meaning? Meaning? Why did I conduct this research? Strange, why can't I recall? What was it for?" The golem's surface began to emit sharp noises, while a large amount of oil flowed out due to the heat emitted by the golem. The metal joints emitted a trembling sound.
Obviously, the golem artificer, having lost many memories, couldn't answer this question!
A gleam flashed in Panni's eyes. With a swift motion, he tossed the remaining eight soul crystals belonging to him into the experimental platform, enduring the sensation of vomiting caused by the magical energy attacking his nerves - resisting a command only once wasn't enough to be fatal. He quickly sent his thoughts through the clear connection into the rat's body again, controlling the integration process of the rat's soul, gradually gaining control of its body.
The light on the platform brightened once again, and the frequency of the rat's body trembling increased.
"I can't keep thinking." Sargbar Pascal felt a severe loss of control over his emotions and began to delete memories massively - he always did this when faced with such situations, and it took a moment.
When he finished deleting the memories, his emotions calmed down again. At that moment, he "saw" the two eyes of the rat on the experimental platform slowly open, emitting a faint silver light. The hourglass-shaped time dragon scale on its forehead seemed to slowly start flowing. In an instant, his thoughts, perception, and actions all came to a halt!
The rat moved its not-so-nimble limbs, slowly climbed down from the platform, and then crawled up the abdomen of the golem along its thigh, its claws shining with a black gloss, reaching towards the arcane rune at the center of the golem's abdomen...
On the other side of the laboratory, the young man closed his eyes and remained motionless, as if his soul had departed.