Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 562: Walkers of the Heaven and Earth IV

CH562 Walkers of the Heaven and Earth IV

***

Udara opened her eyes to find herself standing within a practice arena.

It looked eerily similar to those of the Fury family— only far larger. Nearly ten times larger, in fact Spacious enough that even a giant could battle within it.

Opposite her stood a mirror, reflecting her beautiful form.

Yet Udara did not see beauty.

All she saw were ghosts of the past clawing at the surface— barely restrained by the warmth of her present.

Her gaze hardened for a fleeting moment... before softening once more.

She did not wish to dwell on it.

Instead, she chose to ignore the obvious fracture within herself.

After all, it had always been this way.

Ever since that day...

The darkest day of her life.

As Udara steadied herself —coming to terms with her reality for perhaps the thousandth time— ripples spread across the surface of the mirror.

From within it... stepped another figure.

Udara.

Her eyes flashed as she stared at the doppelganger before her.

Unlike herself —clad in practical black leather armour reinforced with functional plates— the doppelganger wore cream-and-brown armour that was distinctly feminine, yet still suited for combat.

Where Udara’s armour rejected ornamentation in favour of pure functionality, the other wore embellishments proudly— even at some cost to practicality.

Udara emanated the aura of a hardened combatant.

The doppelganger, in contrast, exuded the presence of a lady —a woman of high standing— who could fight when required, yet did not define herself by battle alone.

It was unmistakable.

The doppelganger represented the path Udara might have walked... had her life unfolded differently.

Suddenly, weapon racks rose from the ground beside both women.

The doppelganger reached out and selected a dagger-like, trident-shaped weapon— a pair of sai.

After choosing her weapons, she stood silently, watching Udara.

The Amazon-Drow lady understood.

The trial would not commence until she made her own selection.

Her preferred weapons were combat daggers and shortswords.

Yet the doppelganger’s choice of sai was deliberate.

Sai were specifically designed to trap, control, and counter bladed weapons.

The implication was clear.

The doppelganger was crafted to be antithetical to her— to her instincts, her temperament, and her fighting style.

Despite the clear disadvantage, Udara chose to remain true to her nature.

She reached forward and selected two shortswords— a variant only slightly longer than daggers, yet thick-spined and optimised for thrusting attacks.

The blades carried some weight, but thanks to her Amazonian heritage, Udara wielded them with ease.

With both sides having chosen their weapons, the racks sank back into the hardened stone floor as though they had never existed.

The doppelganger turned towards Udara, a disturbingly lifelike glint shining within her eyes.

”The Heaven and Earth are vast and mysterious— in truth, they are the greatest of mysteries. To walk the path of Heaven and Earth is to lift the veil and understand even a fragment of that mystery. Yet the Heaven and Earth are also a mirror, reflecting the hidden mysteries within one’s own heart.

”Thus, to understand and comprehend Heaven and Earth, one must first comprehend that which is veiled within their own heart. For how can one hope to understand, accept, and embrace the truth of Heaven and Earth... when one cannot even look upon, comprehend, and accept the truth of their own heart— dark or otherwise?”

The doppelganger shifted smoothly into a combat stance.

Udara instinctively understood the essence of her trial.

She was to confront the version of herself she might have become becom— a woman who, despite enduring the same past, chose to walk a different path.

—

Sugud opened his eyes to find himself within a vast workshop and forge.

Before him stood a giant of a man— easily three metres tall.

Clink~ Clink~

The man did not speak.

He simply heated a piece of metal and hammered it upon the anvil. Once it cooled, he reheated it and repeated the process... again and again, seemingly without end.

Gradually, Sugud found himself drawn into the rhythm of the hammer strikes.

Before he realised it, he too slipped into a trance.

Within that trance, he began to witness the origin and history of the metal beneath the hammer.

He saw how it had formed from the death of an unknown creature.

He saw the creature plummeting from outer space and crashing into this plane.

He saw the impact collapse a mountain upon its body.

Over millennia, the mountain eroded the creature’s flesh, until all that remained were unique metallic deposits embedded within the stone.

Sugud witnessed the metal ore’s entire history unfold before him —from its cosmic origin to its burial beneath a mountain— until it was finally unearthed and placed into the hands of this towering blacksmith.

Now, it was being refined... shaped into something new.

At first, Sugud assumed the blacksmith was forging a weapon from the purified ingot.

Yet to his surprise, that was not the case.

The blacksmith was constructing... a metal golem.

Golems were not uncommon in Pangea.

However, they were typically the domain of Alchemists, who relied heavily upon intricate magical matrices and formulaic refinement.

It was not unheard of for blacksmiths to attempt similar creations, but their results were usually vastly inferior. That was why most smiths had long abandoned such pursuits.

And yet—

From what Sugud could perceive, this blacksmith’s golem would be no less refined than the creation of a Master Alchemist.

Sugud would know.

His mother had taken him to visit several alchemists of that calibre in his youth, hoping to broaden his horizons and expose him to the crafts of her peers.

But before Sugud could glimpse the final product —the massive figure of the blacksmith obscuring his view— the scene shifted.

Suddenly, he stood within a workshop scaled to his own proportions.

The forge, tools, and equipment were all crafted to a level just beyond his current capabilities— capable of producing anything he could conceive.

HUM~~~

The hammer resting upon the anvil began to vibrate, emitting a resonant hum that drew his attention.

When Sugud approached it, he felt an overwhelming longing surge from the depths of his being— an intense urge to grasp the tool.

And so he did.

The moment his fingers wrapped around the hammer, a voice thundered in his ears.

”The Heaven and Earth are abundant in creation. Each dawn and rising sun heralds new beginnings, and the end of old forms. To walk the path of the Heaven and Earth is to carve your own road with the gifts and knowledge they provide— continuing the eternal cycle of creation.”

The voice faded.

Yet the hammer continued to tremble gently in his grasp.

It directed his gaze first towards a stack of ores —gifts born of the Heaven and Earth— and then towards shelves lined with books and parchments —repositories of the Heaven and Earth’s knowledge.

With that, Sugud understood his trial.

He must construct something worthy of advancing his chosen path.

It could not be ordinary.

It had to be something truly innovative...

Something breathtaking.

***