As Rory finally finished putting away his hammer, he looked around his workshop with a swell of pride.

Not bad.

It had come quite a long way from his first time in these 'hollowed' halls.

Heh. Hallowed. Hollowed. As in, I literally hollowed out - you know what, never mind.

No longer were they just simple caves; he had managed to add artistic flair, with sweeping lines meant to evoke imagery of waves —a reflection of the dark sea far above.

Far below. Subjectivity. Whatever.

He had a good few proper workshops established, his main forge, an alchemy room, an inscription rune, a workshop for gem crafting, and even a room for core crafting, albeit with the caveat that he rarely messed around with cores even now.

There were other caves and tunnels as well, including the tunnel system that led to the trial within the volcano's bowels. Now, Rory hadn't returned to those locations ever since the oversized ape there had kicked his ass, as he wasn't looking to have his ass handed to him a second time to soon after the first.

Soon.

His armor was good. It was his armaments that were lacking. Outside of his spear, Rory didn't really have much of an arsenal going for him. For the most part, his form of combat had turned into relying on his projection magic. The problem with that was that there were obvious shortcomings in his ability to drop a devastating strike, relying predominantly on Dragon's Fall or his chant to empower an attack.

So, Rory had decided to change that. Not just would he have an arsenal he could call upon through projections, he would have a physical arsenal he could rely upon just as well.

What that had meant, practically speaking, was that he had been forging shields, swords, maces, polearms, all sorts of weaponry for quite some time. Utilizing the technique of True Folding, each weapon was far sturdier and hardier than the stabilized steel content would suggest. His goal was to one day make some promethium weapons that had undergone True Folding, but he wasn't quite there yet.

Lots of progress, and yet Rory frowned as he stared at the iconic dragon visage spewing lava.

"When was the last time I was outside?"

Rory furrowed his brow, thinking. It didn't feel that long ago, yet at the same time, Rory couldn't put a finger on it.

Eh, must have lost track of a little bit of time.

"Hey Jinn, I'm going out. You hold down the base, would you?"

Jinn the World Ichor elemental flashed him a salute –something it had copied from him– its 'arms' far less stubby than they had once been. Now, tier three, the elemental still predominantly lazed about in its magma pool, an entirely unbothered existence. The only time it did anything different was when it would sometimes float out of the magma to mimic whatever he was doing.

Jinn wasn't the only elemental anymore, either. Ever since Rory had first created Jinn, he had occasionally spotted elementals out in the wild, albeit only fire or lava variants, and all at least tier six. Perhaps it was because they were naturally 'spawned' by Eon or Aelia –which one dictated that stuff wasn't his wheelhouse– but they never appeared lower than tier six, unlike Jinn, who had been born as a tier one.

Leaving the workshop to the watchful eye of the young elemental, Rory stretched out as he stepped into the wider world.

"What a wonderful day."

It was a bit of hyperbole; the same smoke and haze that always hung in the air still hung in the air as usual, but Rory was feeling good.

So good, in fact, that Rory decided to explore the mountain, for as long as he had been around, he had hardly done anything aside from set up some extremely passive and long-lasting pneuma crushers around the volcano.

Exploration had never been his primary focus after all. It was helpful for inspiration, but he wasn't someone looking to see every single sight under the sky, or at least he wasn't in any rush to.

Spending several hours traveling up and down the mountain, hunting monsters where he could, hiding from monsters when he couldn't, Rory would have said he'd had a rather enjoyable outing.

That was until, making his way down from one of the upper rungs, he came to a stop, frowning as he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

"You know, you're a pain in the ass to find," The armored woman he had met some time ago said, glaring at him.

"How'd you sneak up on me?" Rory questioned, surprised.

"An item from a delve." The woman said off-handedly. "Not really the point, though."

"No," Rory said, a curved sword appearing in his hand. "I guess it isn't."

The woman cracked her knuckles, drawing Rory's eyes to them as he felt his eyebrow twitch. She was wearing armored gauntlets that reminded him considerably of the same sort of waxy chitin the Architect Bane was clad in, albeit in a fiery red instead of the deep black that he was used to.

Well, she didn't make those herself, that's for sure… Eon then.

Thoughts of the strange gauntlets aside, Rory engaged the armored woman, sword clashing against gauntlets and shield. As humans from Earth, they were more than capable of coming together, setting aside their differences, and talking things out.

But also, as humans from Earth, violence was in their blood, which had been further spurred on by the words of Aelia herself a long time ago.

Sword met shield as a metallic clang rang out, a few lazing monsters in the vicinity deciding it was time to leave as they paid witness to the ensuing conflict.

Pushing his concept of self, Rory attempted to overwhelm her durability, only for the sword to refuse to budge.

I should have figured. She's the same tier as me, so I can't simply overwhelm her.

It was a nifty trick for overcoming esoteric bullcrap. Still, the woman didn't even seem to be relying much on any such abilities to begin with; she was simply that invested in durability.

Sword vanishing into his inventory, Rory struck with a glorified lump of stabilized steel, slamming the heavy mace into her shield as the woman was pushed back half a step.

"Uff," The woman groaned, frowning. "What the hell are those things made of?"

"Metal," Rory grinned as he swung once more, as the woman again met the strike on her shield. With as durable as his newest weapons were, he would break down her armor, forcing her to invert her attributes. While her inverted attributes were overwhelming, Rory had already experienced them and had therefore planned accordingly.

Strike after strike crunched against her shield, and Rory felt entirely in control.

Or he did until he felt a stirring from the woman, a moment before he was blasted backward, her shield launching him with a shockwave, returning each hit he'd delivered in double.

Slamming into a nearby rock, Rory felt the wind knocked out of him, only to look up as the woman shot forward far faster than she had previously been.

Cheap blow!

She'd lured him into a sense of security before knocking off guard with a reversal strike, now going in to finish him off.

It was earlier than expected, but Rory wasn't about to lie down and accept his defeat. Instantly, a massive shield appeared that put her shield to shame, large enough that it was more of a wall than a shield. The entire thing was made of +1 stabilized steel and weighed at least a few hundred pounds.

When her fist, clad in the strange gauntlet, struck the shield, the massive wall of steel rang out like a gong.

Not bad.

His oversized shield had taken the hit without much hassle and-

Oh, she's still going.

The single hit wasn't the end of things, as Rory was suddenly being pushed back, her fists striking his shield hundreds of times, pummeling the metal. For a while, the shield held out, but as the seconds ticked by, Rory stared, aghast, as the dense metal began to warp under the endless barrage.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

You're joking.

Rory had expected the woman to attempt to outmaneuver the shield after she was unable to punch through. Still, the fact that she was hell bent on smashing straight through was something Rory hadn't planned for.

Coming in for another punch against his shield, the woman flopped forward as the shield vanished, a net replacing it as she found herself momentarily ensnared.

For good measure, Rory whipped several ensnaring threads of Pneuma toward her, as he drew his hand back, a heavy bow dropping into his grasp.

"Arrow Rain," Rory grunted as he whipped the heavy bow upward, releasing a projected arrow that suddenly split into dozens of arrows raining down toward the woman. Rory wouldn't call it a new 'attack' so much as a fancier version of elementary projection magic. Still, when tied together with a quick call out, it gave the projected arrows more oomph.

Seeing the arrow rain, the armored woman squawked as her movements suddenly turned sluggish in comparison to just a moment prior. It wasn't a moment too soon as the arrows rained down upon her, plinking off her with minimal damage.

Now's my chance!

Finally succeeding in casting off the net, the armored woman turned around, only to be sent flying as Rory swung his overly heavy mace at her like he was shooting for a hole in one.

Even with plenty of durability, that had to have stung.

Raising his shoulder back, Rory whipped his hand forward, launching a pointed spear the moment it appeared in his hand. The woman struck it aside with the back of her armored hand, glaring at Rory.

While Rory was confident that with a chant he could overwhelm her durability, the adverse effect was more than Rory was willing to gamble with for the time being. Instead of chanting, Rory began to drag the tip of his banner across the ground as the woman grunted.

"Oh no, you don't! No more meteors!"

Racing forward, the woman charged at Rory with a speed that indicated she had once more flipped her attributes. Interestingly, the instant her speed increased, Rory spotted a trickle of blood from her nose.

Ohoh? Is that a weakness I spot?

While she could walk off any number of attacks while her durability was high, inverting her attributes seemed to accrue a small percentage of damage based on what she had endured already.

Good to know.

As the woman's fist came flying toward him, his massive tower shield reappeared, groaning as her fist struck it. Rather than mindlessly hammer away at the shield, the woman zipped to the side, attempting to strike around the shield.

Good in theory. Difficult in practice when Rory dematerialized and rematerialized his shield in her way.

God, I love this inventory.

Feeling smug for a split second, it was dashed when he was reminded that his shield was looking to be the first to fail between it and the woman, warping even more as fist imprints were being left behind.

So, this plan isn't working. Hmmm, I wonder.

Shield vanishing, Rory dodged out of the way as he spread his arms.

"From my mind, all things imagined," Rory began to chant, as knives started to manifest into reality, glowing with power.

"Nope, none of that." The woman grunted, not looking to give him the chance to do… whatever he was doing.

Seeing the woman racing directly at him, Rory smiled.

Perfect.

Rather than continue the chant, the knives suddenly locked onto the woman and shot forward. Realizing her mistake, her speed dramatically plummeted as the many knives exploded in her face.

Partial chant is possible. More exhausting than regular projections, but tolerable. Duly noted.

When the dust cleared, the woman was again glaring at Rory.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?" Rory asked after a moment.

"That," The woman gestured vaguely.

"What's 'that?'" Rory questioned.

"Posturing. You look like you're straight out of a comic book, a villain about to monologue."

It only occurred to Rory that he still had his arms spread as if he were an orchestral conductor. Cringing inwardly, Rory lowered his hands.

"Are those knives real?" The woman asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Huh?" Rory frowned before nodding. "Oh, these."

Another knife appeared, floating over his shoulder. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Sort of."

"You're not going to explain further?"

"And I should tell you exactly how my abilities work…. Why?" Rory asked, genuinely baffled.

"Isn't that a common courtesy?"

"What sort of idiot would explain their abilities?" Rory scoffed.

There was silence for several more seconds before the woman shook her head.

"Zoey."

"Excuse me?"

"Zoey, my name. You told me your name last time."

"Oh. Right." Rory rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling awkward.

"Vanguard of the First Era. The Vanguard, if you want less of a mouthful," She offered after a moment.

"Right. Architect of the Precursors, but you sort of know that already," Rory said, still feeling awkward.

"So…. Should we continue?"

Rory considered it for a moment before sighing. "Probably. Five minutes. If there is no decisive winner within five minutes, we call it a draw for now. Sound fair?"

"I guess that's fair. Why propose it?"

"Because otherwise this will drag out. You're slowly taking damage from flipping your attributes," Rory said, pointing out her bleeding nose. "And my shield is slowly crumpling. If my shield fails, I'll probably resort to some big fuck off move that neither of us wants to deal with."

"I'd rather not have a meteor dropped on my head again, no."

"And if you're pushed too far into a corner, you'll probably just piss off because the damage you're accruing is gradual enough that you can escape at any moment."

"True."

"So, five minutes. You game?"

The Vanguard, Zoey, tapped her foot, thinking about it for several moments before sighing.

"Yeah, yeah, that works. Whoever gets the most damage wins?"

"Sure, why not?"

Having reached an agreement, the two founders distanced themselves, mentally preparing for the fight.

Five minutes. Just have to hit her hard enough to win in these five minutes.

Eyeing his opponent, Rory considered his options. Dragon's Fall was his strongest 'attack', but it was also a hassle to set up. Augmenting a projection attack with a chant could deliver a decisive blow, but it would also be a hassle if she saw him chanting.

What's my best course of action? Oh, wait, we're starting.

Already Zoey was charging toward him, her speed suggesting that she was still in her durable 'form' and that-

Never mind!

Having crossed roughly half the distance between the two of them, Zoey suddenly shot forward, accelerating faster than Rory had anticipated.

She tricked me!

Stumbling back, Rory threw out his hand as a net temporarily manifested, catching the Vanguard off guard for a split second before she tore through the flimsy net.

I can't let her control the pace of things.

Thrusting his hand out, a sword flashed forward, only to be batted aside by a palm strike from the physically more powerful woman.

Alright, time for random bullshit.

Arms spread wide, knives projected before launching forward as soon as they materialized, like a rapid-fire knife…machine gun…portal… thing.

Maybe not my best analogy.

Either way, the sudden barrage of explosive knives forced the Vanguard back, in her inverted state, a single one of those knives striking her could be devastating.

Adding to the pressure, Rory began slashing his hands forward, whips made of Pneuma cracking through the air faster than his eyes could perceive.

Huh, I should make a new chain blade.

With his mind split into three mental threads, the stray wandering thought had briefly found its way in before Rory brushed it aside as quickly as it appeared.

I need to force her back into her defense state.

Redoubling his efforts, the rapid-fire assault of the explosive knives was joined by slower-to-project but more deadly lances that resembled simplified versions of his banner spear.

More!

Bringing his hands forward, Rory began to double-fire from pointed finger guns, ghostly blue bullets flooding the air as Rory pushed himself. With three forms of projections being fired off with such reckless abandon, Rory was beginning to feel the strain.

Blasting away, Rory mentally ticked down the clock, doing his best to keep her on the defensive, forcing her to dodge rather than tank the onslaught with her defensive form, where the accumulating damage would make it dangerous for her to switch back into offense.

A little more, and she won't have a choice.

A new idea forming in his mind, Rory's back leg began to sweep out, drawing a single circle around himself.

Oh, if this works…

The streams of pneuma bullets ceased as Rory held his palms slightly open near his chest, focusing a mental thread on each palm.

Appearing in both hands from his inventory, a spot gem appeared.

This is either going to end terribly, or end terrifically… Only one way to find out.

Noticing that something seemed amiss, the Vanguard saw Rory in the distance, holding two strange orbs in either hand as his lips began to move.

"From my mind, all things imagined,"

On one hand, a point of totality.

His left hand suddenly felt as if it were holding up the world, an inconceivable point of infinite density. It wasn't literally infinite density, just the concept he was touching upon.

"From my body, all paths are possible."

On the other hand, a point of absolute zero.

His right hand suddenly felt as if a vacuum of boundless strength was drawing it in.

Zoey was racing forward, dodging and weaving through the rain of explosive weapons, not a care in the world for what were minor threats compared to whatever it was that Rory was pulling.

"From my hands, even stars may be forged."

The two points, one of conceptually infinite mass and the other of absolute zero, were drawn together, temporarily orbiting one another as the two points refused to interact.

Actually, on second thought, I might have gotten carried away. This is a whole lot of untested shit being smashed together at once.

Rory was putting a lot of forces together that he still barely understood, and expecting it to all pan out nicely—inversion, singularity points, chanting, the whole nine yards. Undoubtedly, whatever he put together would have some serious oomph.

The problem was that Rory could already sense his control slipping, even with two of his three mental threads solely dedicated to the task of maintaining his grasp.

Ohhhhh no. I might have fucked up.

There was no going back; the cat was out of the bag, and the forces were already spinning one another. Attempting to stop the interaction would likely cause the entire thing to explode prematurely.

Well, may as well try to direct it as best as I can.

Already sensing he had accidentally put together far more potent an attack than expected, Rory aborted the chant, not wanting to finish it off and give it even more juice. Instead, Rory completely ignored the rest of what was going on, the fight with his fellow founder and all, as he instead turned his final remaining mental thread to attempting to join the two singularities together.

It's like with my projections, overlapping two forms of 'reality' within a singular plane of existence, except, not that at all…. Yeah, no, I've lost control.

"Get back!" Rory shouted, feeling the last ounce of his ability to control slipping from his grasp. With events already set in motion with no hope of reversal, the two points spun faster and faster before fusing into a singular, paradoxical point of infinitely dense nothingness.

Locking down onto the point with all three mental threads, Rory did everything he could to hold it stable as he flicked his right hand forward, the contrarian point managing to make it a good dozen feet before the forces contained by the point were too much even for the A7 Rory to clamp down on, even with tripled mental threads.

Everything appeared to happen in slow motion as the point began to expand, before a wave of negative light began to shine out, heralding what was to come.

You know, I might die from this.

Rory had seen many dangerous things. Still, the feeling he was getting from his attack was worse than just about any other thing he'd felt before, several forces magnifying one another. It wasn't mere synergy; it was exponential.

My one regret is that I'm about to die.

Summoning a barrier around himself, Rory was reasonably confident it was about to do fuck all. Still, he wasn't intending to die without at least trying to survive.

Within his barrier, the last thing Rory saw before the negative light washed out everything was the shape of a woman leaping forward.

Well, with her durability, she might survive. I can't say I didn't try to warn her, though.

And then everything vanished, washed away by a blinding light of paradoxes combined.

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