Whispers of a Dead Empire

Nyx's eyes went wide at the mention of training, and a feral glint appeared. "Fighting?" She asked as she leaned forward, and the tips of her canine-like teeth appeared. Her tongue reached out and slithered across the tips. Oh no, don't tell me she's a battle junkie.

"At first, no, I want to make sure you are trained, just in case something happens and you need to protect yourself." I crossed my arms and sat back in my chair, dismissing my screen.

"Fighting is fun." Her cute face seemed to melt away, revealing the apex predator that lurked just beneath the facade.

In a way, it was scary to behold. I had almost forgotten that she was a dragon polymorphed into human form. I cleared my throat as I shoved away from the shock. "Well, I'll have Alessia train you for a time until we figure out what you like." I hoped that some of the stuff that was brought to me would come in handy for training in the future, especially for her. If I could play to her strengths, I would have another powerful asset to wield. Though I probably wouldn't let her be on her own for quite a while. In fact, the mere thought of someone laying a hand on sent a shot of fiery white rage through my veins.

"I do like Ms. Alessia." Nyx mused quietly to herself while kicking her feet.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that." I quickly dampened the rage, trying to lash out since there was no real reason for it to be there. I mean, it was just a thought after all. "Speaking of Alessia, have you seen her?"

Nyx hummed softly to herself as she scrunched up her small face. "I can't say that I have recently. She was here just before you woke up."

I quickly opened up my screen, brought up Alessia's name, and wrote her a small message, telling her to come to see me and bring along that gift that Kharon had, if it was on the way, of course. I dismissed the screen and sat back in the chair. "So, how did you like the negotiations?"

"Ugh, mother, they were so boring. Just mindless chattering." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Tell me about it." I really hated dealing with negotiations. It was such a delicate dance that it was hard for me to keep up at times. While I could do it, I much rather leave it to the people who knew what they were doing, which in this case, it was Kharon. I swear, without him, I would be so lost.

"Can we play later, mother?"

I glanced down towards Nyx and saw her giving me a set of the biggest puppy eyes I could imagine. Damn child and her manipulations. "Later. I have to do a few things, and then we can play." I quickly formed a list in my mind about what I had to do today. The first thing is, I really needed to make a new batch of materials to ship out. I may include some concrete, and a few other things, just for variety. Right after, I needed to see what weapons had to be made for Kharon, and then I suppose I could play with Nyx. Though I had a feeling, her version of playing was like fighting.

"Do you promise?"

"I do. Let me just get all of this stuff done, then we can play."

Nyx flashed me a brilliant smile and hopped out of her chair. "Thank you, mother. I'm going to go play with the wolves than for now." She jumped off her chair and scampered off towards the canines without giving me a chance to respond. At least she wasn't being obnoxious anymore. I felt a smile cross my face as I watched her runoff, and a warmth spread through my chest. I think I'm finally finding some happiness. The sole thing I've been searching for, and it's within my grasp.

I pulled my eyes away from her and glanced back at my menus. Now I just needed to knock out today's to-do list. Let's see, what did I want to give Redrick? I glanced through my templates and spawned in a bunch more pens, and then to match it, I spawned in a few of the plastic bits filled with ink, just so people could refill the pens. I wasn't sure what kind of operation Redrick was running, but I know how many business owners were, so I might as well try to help the people out the best that I could.

For the next portion, I would sell the concrete to him, but I think that would be something I would need to do last since this stuff will get heavy fast. Perhaps I should check with him first and then go from there.

I looked through my templates once more, trying to decide on what I wanted to give away. Maybe I could do some chef knives. But, I would make something else because the template I have was my own, and I would be damned if someone used the same knife. I wanted to feel special, damn it.

I took a copy of the template, altered the length, and made the blade a bit thicker and with more of a curve so they could rock the blade. Once I was happy, I changed the color of the handle tar-black and made it look a bit more polished for appearance's sake.

Once I was happy, I created a batch of fifty and another crate to store them all. I suppose I could create a sheathe, but that would bite into resources I didn't have at the moment, so for now, I'll let that be Redrick's problem. I dismissed my screen and worked on something else while waiting for the stuff to finish spawning. But what did I want to do?

I thought it over for a moment and glanced down at my metallic hand. It's been a while since I've last done this, and I really have given little thought to it all. I know I should since it's vital, but I've been so busy with everything lately. I clenched my fist and pushed my soul from my medium. However, I went with a simple blade instead of the dragon claws I had.

My mastery over it has grown since the last time I've tried, but it was still difficult to form my soul into the shape that I wanted. I pushed harder and stretched the shape out a bit more. I push against the force that desperately fought against me. The familiar white energy slowly flowed across my fingertips and coalesced into the shape of a dagger. But this wasn't it. I wanted more.

I pushed with everything I had, and I could feel the sweat run down my face as my soul flowed outwards as my blade took its shape. The blade grew outwards and enveloped my entire hand. Energy coalesced around the blade and rushed inwards, pushing it further up. Until, at last, it finally stopped expanding. The blade was rigid and came to a tapered point near the top, much like a tanto blade.

The light around my new blade seemed to flicker and swirl as small twinges of violet light seemed to course through the sword. I tried to wiggle my fingers but found that they were constricted. So this blade was directly attached to my hand. While my finger movement was restricted, I still had complete control of my wrist, which was good.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the soul blade template!

The words flowed across my screen, and I nodded my head. Good, good. I had two weapon templates to call on now. My dragon claws and my sword, but I was torn between the two of them. I called upon my dragon claws and watched my sword shatter as if it were glass. The hundreds of pieces rearranged themselves quickly as the outline took shape, and in the blink of an eye, my claws were visible.

The scales scintillated in the light, as white and violet bled into another. They seemed to have shrunk since the last time I saw them. Well, the claws seemed as long as ever, but overall the template fit my hand better. It was almost like wearing a glove that perfectly fit.

I waved my hand around and enjoyed how the air seemed to scream as the tips of nails cut through it with ease. They made me feel powerful, but I know I wasn't that great with them yet. Perhaps these would be better than the blade. It evoked more emotion from me than the sword did, but I would test them both out to see which I liked the most.

"Empress, you called?" Alessia's voice tore me from my thoughts, and I looked up at her and dismissed my blades.

"Ah, hello! Yes, I did." I glanced up at her and saw the familiar pair of burning red eyes. "Oh, Kharon, how are you?" I asked as I cleared my throat and straightened up a bit.

"Mistress." He replied with a soft bow. His black cloak was darker than ever and seemed to devour all the surrounding light with glee.

"It's been a while; take a seat." I gestured towards the seat in front of me. As I looked at him, I realized that I'd been neglecting him for a while. In fact, I can't remember the last time that I had an actual conversation with him.

They both sat down, and a second later, I heard the sound of feet running towards me. "Ms. Alessia!" Nyx's voice called out as she rushed across the room. Her little face was alight with happiness.

"Hello there, Nyx." Alessia's face was as impassive as ever, though I could see a bit of happiness in her eyes. I was glad those two got along.

As she rushed over, she paused as she gazed at Kharons' form. Her face went wide in fear, and she stopped in her tracks. I gazed at her and chuckled as I realized she was terrified of him. I didn't see why, though; he was like a loving grandfather.