King of the hill

(3rd Person POV)

In the legendary Land of Shadows, a place of fear and darkness, even by Medusan standards, which was perpetually covered by thick polluted clouds. Many ancient devices of metal and stone of gigantic proportions stand there as the reincarnate Crafter Primarch stands opposite Asirnoth, the Necron construct and monster. 

Apart from the years of wandering across Medusa, Ferrus stalked the beast for days, hunting it across the land until he finally caught it in the Lands of Shadows, where a great battle is about to take place. 

Asirnoth shared some similarities to a Canoptek Wraith. A Canoptek Wraith's most notable feature is its Phase Shifter -- a Dimensional Destabilisation Matrix that allows it to skip in and out of phase with the normal space-time continuum. By adjusting the modulation of a Phase Shifter's matrix, a Canoptek Wraith can even keep portions of its physical form in different phase states simultaneously. Whilst a completely phased-out existence can be sustained by the construct almost indefinitely, a half-phased state requires an enormous amount of energy to sustain. In fact, a Canoptek Wraith's body is little more than a series of interlocking power generators and Ethereum lode conduits, and yet even with so much potential power available to it, the construct can exist in a dual phase state for only limited periods of time.

The Phase Shifter was originally created to allow the Wraiths to reach into and repair solid machinery without having to go through all the trouble of removing its outer casing and other superfluous components. However, Wraith's abilities are no less valuable when dealing with intruders. If it times its attack correctly, a Canoptek Wraith can phase its claws and tendrils inside an opponent, swiftly resolidifying them to sever arteries, nerve clusters and other vital pathways without leaving an external mark of what killed the victim. In addition, the enemy must time his own return blows with perfect precision, lest his own weapons pass through the Wraith's phased-out form. Phase Shifters also allow Wraiths to move effortlessly at speed through terrain that normal scouts would find difficult or dangerous to navigate, thus ensuring that no obstacle can stop a Wraith from moving into position before a battle.

While Asirnoth was not a Canoptek Wraith, the mechanical beast shared some of its capabilities. The way Asirnoth managed to speedily navigate through the dangerous and difficult terrain of Medusa and do it all so silently. The way it kills anything that comes before it. And now, Ferrus is standing in front of the Necron construct, ready to fight it to the death. Only one of them will survive this day, this encounter and only one will live to tell the tale. 

.

Ferrus rushes forward. He has grown to reach 3.3 meters or 10 feet 9 inches tall. He was a tall man by now and his strength was unquestioned on Medusa. He pulls his fist back and punches forward with enormous might. 

*Woooosh*

A gust of wind is generated as he does so, but as his fist reaches the body of Asirnoth, it simply fazes through.

Having confirmed that Asirnoth truly can phase through matter, Ferrus dodges two stingers aimed towards his thorax. The first attack was meant as a way to check for special abilities. The fact that Necrons can just throw such technology around and then forget about it, speaks for their superiority in all things concerning technology. 

Asirnoth shoots towards Ferrus with immense speed. Ferrus takes something out of his pocket and lets it fall to the ground. A small metal ball hits the ground, just as Asirnoth is about to reach Ferrus. The moment it hits the ground, the small metal ball expands slightly and a transparent dome spreads with the ball at its centre, reaching several miles in radius. 

Ferrus having pulled back his fist again, punches out again. His fist even stronger than before, approaches Asirnoth. The machine that has his stingers out pulls them back, waiting for Ferrus' punch to faze through his body and then to attack and kill the creature that dares challenge it. 

*BOOOM*

Ferrus' fist does in fact not faze through and instead hits Asirnoth straight in the face. The punch of the Primarch staggers the machine. His fists are large and strong. But why does he no longer faze through the Necron construct? The reason is the ball, Ferrus dropped to the ground. It is something Ferrus created himself as a precaution. He crafted that ball to create a dome where fazing is rendered impossible. Thanks to his ability to imbue special effects into all his creations, that was rather simple. 

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Now that it is possible, Ferrus pummels Asirnoth with his mighty fists, yet cannot even dent the huge armour. The Necron construct is shaken, but not stirred as Ferrus tries harder and harder to do damage. Failure to do so only spurns him on further. He delves deep into the reserves of his body's strength and pulls that shit out of him. Asirnoth does not get one second of respite. The Necron construct uses its mighty Necrodermis tail to wrap it around the waist of Ferrus, trying to throw him off of it, but the Primarch will not have it. 

His mighty paws grab the machine and slam it to the ground over and over again, trying to use anything at hand to his advantage and kill the thing. Ferrus could have prepared better for this fight, he could have created a weapon to kill it, to make this easier ... but he didn't. Despite having his last life's memories and his soul fusing with Ferrus', he didn't do it. He wanted this fight to test him, to push him beyond his limits and to force all of his potential out of him. He might have watched too much anime...

.

They fought for days across land and sea, trading blows but never flinching. Like two monsters, two beasts they exchanged blows to damage the other, to kill their adversary. Their fight took them up mountains or even through the side. They punched tunnels and destroyed the landscape. Be it on land or even water, they didn't stop. In the oceans of Medusa, the Necron construct tried to drown the Primarch, using its mechanical structure to pull him deep. But it was no use. Ferrus would hold his breath and just increase the intensity, as much as possible until they had crossed all of the water mass and reached land again. 

The fight had changed from its initial stages. Neither of the two used much strategy anymore. Asirnoth didn't use his fazing technology, having been pulled into the theme of the battle Ferrus set. It was just a brutal primal punching. Ferrus knew that the longer the battle took, the less of a chance he had to actually win or do damage. The Necrodermis was living up to its name. 

Necrodermis is the Xenos material created over sixty million standard years ago by the Necrontyr species that is often described as "living metal." It is a material of unknown origin and chemical or molecular structure that possesses the extraordinary ability to regenerate almost all damage instantaneously, "flowing" back together as if it were a liquid while closing bullet holes, mending gashes and tears, or even reattaching severed pieces with little delay. The material is also adaptive in some unknown fashion and can learn to repair itself given enough time from nearly any form of damage, even a blast powerful enough to reduce it to its constituent molecules or atoms. 

And this adaptability and regeneration were what made Asirnoth so resistant to the powerful blows of Ferrus. The longer the fight went on, the less his punches would matter and the more he would have to push himself beyond his limits to do anything ... which was exactly why he had not bothered with anything and engaged the Necron construct with full force. 

But fate has a strange way of dealing with things. 

Asirnoth moves to the ground and shoots its body towards Ferrus, hitting him hard on his thorax and shooting his body through the air. Ferrus flies back and crashes through the mountain, breaking the black rocks and coming to a stop after a moment. He actually felt that one, but it doesn't matter. He moves his head to the side, dodging a stab by Asirnoth and grabs the tail of the machine. He pulls it closer and smashes the surrounding walls with it. 

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The stone breaks and cracks appear all around the two fighters. With a throw, Ferrus lets go and causes the machine to crash into the wall in the back. The stone wall crumbles under the force of Asirnoth and the ground looks like a spider net with all those cracks that appeared. The temperature has risen, but both combatants have not yet noticed, or they simply don't care. With strength and speed that is at least three times what he used at the start of the fight, Ferrus appears in front of Asirnoth and delivers a powerful punch. 

*BOOOOOM*

Asirnoth however, manages to deliver a strike of his own and slices his razor-sharp tail across Ferrus' chest, cutting him open and doing a lot of damage. Ignoring the pain, Ferrus realises in time that the ground they are standing on, inside this strange mountain, is about to break and collapse. Feeling the heat, he realises what is going on and jumps back, distancing himself from what will happen. 

And indeed, the ground crumbles and a river of magma is revealed. The air heats up immediately and the skin on Ferrus starts to sizzle. The moment has arrived. Ferrus uses this chance and is not stubborn. He rushes towards Asirnoth, who has also managed to move away in time and tackles him with his body. He embraces the machine with his powerful arms and lifts it up, carrying it towards the massively hot, bubbling magma river. Understanding the danger, Asirnoth starts to struggle with all its might. The tail of the beast wraps around Ferrus' body and starts to squeeze tightly. 

"Ugh!" 

With a grunt, Ferrus finally manages to reach the magma river and uses all his strength to plunge the Necronic machine inside it. But it doesn't work that well, since it is holding on to him with its body. He grits his teeth and puts his back into it, forcing the beast inside the magma, but burning his hands and arms horribly in the process, they bled but didn't lose their strength. He held the writhing body under the streams of the red-hot liquid until the movement began to slow down. Realising that all was about to be lost, the Necron construct used all of its power and began to slice at Ferrus' body in desperation. But despite the pain and the wounds which were inflicted upon him, Ferrus didn't let go.

Eventually, Asirnoth finally melted and stopped moving entirely. The beast was slain, and the technologically advanced monster was defeated. Ferrus proved himself superior and stronger in the end. But the battle left its mark on the powerful Primarch, and when he removed his hands from the magma, they were coated in the living metal of the very beast he had just slain. The Necrodermis of the Necrons was infused not only into his arms but also showed itself in the new grey colour of his eyes. It was flexible like flesh, but at the same time, stronger than the strongest Ceramite. 

It changed the Primarch's limbs almost up to the shoulders, leaving only the upper part uncovered, where the metal fused with real skin. There were terrible scars in addition to the new grey colour his eyes had, indicating how deeply the Necrodermis penetrated his body.

At this moment, Ferrus Manus was truly born. It was a very literal name he chose for himself, but not a bad one. His journey would now begin, after this 'warm-up'. Apart from the literal metal hands, he also gained interesting knowledge containing technology. Technology which he will research and create and improve upon.