Whispers of Metal: The Forge of the One Mage

Well, I arrived a few minutes late, but here is the chapter I promised. This time I decided to make a chapter of about 2500 words. I didn't bother translating it all myself, so you might notice some mistakes here and there. Just point them out, and I'll see if I can correct them later. If you like this kind of long chapter, leave power stones and comment.

Two days had passed since the trip to the arcade, and I had finally found a place to stay. The house was modest, two stories tall, located in a quiet area. It had a small alcove on the second floor, just enough to rest, and on the ground floor, the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room were grouped together in a compact but functional design. Despite its simplicity, it seemed ridiculous to me that it only cost two hundred dollars a month. Compared to the prices in my previous world, living in this house was almost a gift. This world, at least in the economic sense, was a blessing in disguise.

Leaving aside the comfort of my new home, I focused on my current project: assembling a computer in the basement. The parts I had gathered from the trash, and some more complex components I bought from a second-hand store. With a bit of psychic power, I restored the parts until they were as good as new. I was surprised at how easy it had been to revive seemingly dead circuits. When I started assembling it, I knew it would be a myriad of cables and exposed circuits, but I didn't care in the least.

I spent two hours assembling the machine, moving the pieces with telekinesis as if they were extensions of my own body. I already had the design mentally planned out, but even so, I checked each connection twice to ensure there were no mistakes. A tangle of cables twisted through the space, the exposed circuits glowing under the dim basement light, creating an atmosphere straight out of the Divine machinery aesthetic. Considering my powers... better not think about that.

The assembly was the easy part. The real test would come when I tried to connect with the computer using technomancy, a skill I had read about somewhere, mentioned by those traitorous Marines in Warhammer 40k. It sounded incredibly useful, but it took me hours to realize that it simply didn't work. Not a single hint of success, not even a sliver of psychic connection. I tried to link my logical mind to the machine, hoping my energy would flow through the circuits, but I felt nothing. It was like trying to open an invisible door that didn't exist. Frustrated, I changed my focus.

I tried moving part of "me" into the machine to change its code (which, by the way, was sparse). I attempted it and seemed like it would succeed, but it didn't turn out as I wanted. Yes, part of me was now in the machine, but only temporarily, and it's not like the other "me" could do much in that state. My other self was, after all, just a fraction without any real power behind it to accomplish anything.

I tried increasing the amount of myself I projected into the computer. It seemed like a logical solution: more power, more impact. But all I managed to do was waste an absurd amount of energy performing insignificant actions. The projection could interact with the computer, but it was more like a possession that, upon disappearing, would take all the changes made with it. So, it was useless in more than one way—at least now I know I can possess existing machinery.

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't try contacting the machine spirits of the computer. Easy. They only appear in technology that meets several requirements: organic parts, considerable age, and, of course, a collective belief in their existence. This computer didn't meet any of those criteria. I'd have to research more about this, but not today.

"Why the hell doesn't technomancy work?!" I exclaimed, already quite frustrated. I'd been in the damn basement for eight damn hours and not a single sign of success. I checked the connections more than once, but it seemed something about how I wanted to connect to the computer was wrong.

"I'll be back for you," I said angrily as I left the basement. I needed to get some fresh air. I grabbed my grimoire and left the house, the anger slowly being replaced by mild frustration.

I knew part of my frustration was unjustified because these things take time, but since everything had previously come relatively subconsciously to me, I expected the same here. Surprise, surprise, it didn't. I thought all of this while walking down the street.

I stopped by the Big Donut to distract myself a little. I greeted Sadie and Lars and bought myself some donuts and coffee. We briefly chatted about when our next outing would be, but I didn't stay long. My mind was elsewhere, focused on the spells I was developing, more than anything to escape the failure of technomancy.

...

I arrived at the beach, the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing against the shore calming me, though only a little. I sat in the sand, letting the cool breeze caress my skin as I flipped through my grimoire. I was writing new spells, some simple upgrades like a spell to speed up objects to hit harder and faster, lightning bolts that could be manipulated in combat, and a prototype for manipulating light. This last one was particularly interesting—if I managed to destabilize the physical form of a gem with it, it would be a devastating attack. Game over for an entire species. However, there was still much to correct and test—after all, the study of physics in this world wasn't that advanced, and I wasn't an expert in light.

While I was writing, my mind wandered, lost in the possibilities and improvements I could make. At some point, I considered that I needed more inspiration. I thought about searching for said inspiration in some of my memories of my old world, and slipping into a more dreamlike state, I entered my mental realm again. The tower now looked more solid or resilient, the ever-changing maze more extensive and complicated. Skipping past some of the rooms that always changed location as a protective measure, I went straight to the library where memories were kept.

The library was a vast hall filled with shelves that extended as far as the eye could see. The books resting on the shelves contained every memory, every bit of knowledge I had acquired. While reviewing some works of fiction that mentioned technomancy or similar powers, a strange sensation shook my mental realm (metaphorically speaking). A distant, weak voice called to me from the outside, and besides that, I felt something or someone touching my physical body, which alarmed me.

I quickly returned to the materium, reinforcing my senses and body with psychic energy as I emerged from my meditation. The first thing I saw was a bright pink light and Nora, shaking me urgently, while a brunette girl wearing a white shirt and shorts watched me with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" I said, as the energy around me began to slightly distort reality.

Nora stopped shaking me and paused, apparently relieved. We were inside a large pink bubble, gently floating over the sand.

"A rock was about to fall on you and Connie, so I used a bubble to save us. Since you didn't wake up, I thought something had happened to you... by the way, this is Connie. Connie, this is Adrian, a friend of mine," Nora quickly explained without stopping to breathe.

Connie looked at me, slightly cautious. "Nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand, allowing my powers to calm down and reality to return to its usual state. She hesitated for a moment before accepting the handshake. "The pleasure is mine, though I wish it hadn't been in such an... extravagant situation," she replied with a mix of curiosity and caution in her voice.

After the handshake, he turned to Nora. "So, how long does this usually last?" Nora tried to remove the bubble but couldn't. Connie looked slightly scared by this.

"Can't you make it disappear?" said the only guy in the group, and Nora just nodded.

"The girls will know what to do," Nora said, referring to the gems as they moved the bubble across the beach to Nora's house. But they had to stop when they got close due to the steep path. She, not losing hope, shouted to see if the gems would come, but none appeared. Adrian placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Let me help you with that." Then the bubble floated in the air, which surprised the two girls.

"I didn't know you could do that," Connie pointed out, recovering from her initial surprise and with a curious glint towards the two people who were also trapped with her.

"Thanks," said the pink-haired teen, calming down.

The bubble slowly moved toward the house, and when they reached the door, Adrian opened it with his powers. But no one was in sight, and Nora, not losing hope, shouted to see if the gems would come to help, but none appeared.

This seemed a little suspicious to Adrian, but he said nothing more and began scanning the house, where he found a note on the refrigerator that said: "Let the story follow its natural course r̵̙͍͙̓̔͝e̵͚̼̙͒͑̚t̸͕͉̓̚o̸̠̘͔͆͊̕ñ̸͕͓͔͑̕͠o̸̡̞̪͌͝͝ d̵̪͓̝͒̓͘ë̵̻̼̦́͋̕l̴̙̙͕͑͛̚ c̴̺̺͌͘͜͠a̸͓͎̙̚͘͝o̸͕̟̓͒̐s̸̠͉͔͑͋͝ attentively Sapphire." As he read the message, his blood froze due to the distorted part of the message; this was something she SHOULD NOT KNOW.

At a moment when I wasn't thinking logically, my only thought was to try to break the bubble from the inside, ignoring the two girls, one of whom looked worried about me and the other scared. Not even a second later, I realized I couldn't break the bubble with my telekinesis, and I was going to use my psychic power to distort reality and eliminate this annoying bubble, until Nora grabbed me by the shoulders and began shaking me with surprising strength, saying, "Adrian, calm down, you're scaring her."

I looked at Nora, and she was visibly worried, while Connie had a strange look of fear and confusion (maybe from my psychic power being released into the materium). I nodded to Nora before noticing that there was another message written on the table that said: "Good boy." My outer self was calm, but in my mind, I was foaming at the mouth.

"This girl," I thought with a tangle of mixed emotions. I turned to Connie and Nora, "I apologize for that, I don't know what happened," I said, though I didn't even believe the crap that had come out of my mouth.

Nora nodded and let go of my shoulders, while Connie took a moment but also nodded, though slowly. Wow, I sure ruined her impression of me.

After that, I disconnected, and most of the chapter passed almost like in the series, with almost nothing changing, which made me question whether my being here would even bring any change to the main story. Now we were at the part where the bubble was at the bottom of the sea after encountering that strange worm/gem creature that eats luminescent things.

Nora was trying to be optimistic, and Connie was having a crisis while I questioned my entire damn existence.

"It's not so bad," she said, looking towards the exit of the underwater hole we were in. "We'll be fine." She was about to say more but was interrupted by Connie, almost in tears. "We won't be fine! You keep saying that, but you don't know what you're doing! We're going to die from lack of air or food at the bottom of the ocean," she said, defeated. "And only my parents will know because no one else cares!" she said, letting the tears fall. Nora was starting to get nervous while Connie cried, and that's when one of the best things I've ever seen happened: Nora spoke, trying to calm her, her tone soft, "We can be friends," as she extended the luminescent bracelet to Connie and also gave me a look. What do I do with my life? I thought, and I placed a hand on Nora as well before she could continue speaking, "Yes, we can be friends." Nora just smiled, and Connie looked at us expectantly with a glimmer of hope, while Nora explained the reason for the bracelet to Connie, just like Steven did in canon. In that moment, the bubble exploded, and we surfaced.

"Hahaha," Nora laughed, somewhat amused after taking a deep breath. Connie also laughed, or rather, coughed. Was the worm monster trying to eat us?

Wtf. Well, never mind, I decided to be a man and not think about it. I summoned a semi-material hammer with one of the sharp ends along with a full-body semi-material armor while we ran to escape. Nora already had her shield summoned. From here on, I expected the fight to be like in canon. I should stop expecting things. The monster went berserk, almost killing Connie if it wasn't for me redirecting its attack and Nora removing her from the impact zone. I grabbed the monster's attention, and a real fight began.

...

Lightning flew through the air, platinum-colored fireballs slammed into the beast, the sea water constantly stirred as if responding to some eldritch force. Continuous energy constructs slammed into the worm-like monster, occasionally a pink light shield, solid as steel, cut through the chaos to hit the beast.

Amidst this apocalyptic storm, floated a young man with brown hair. But any description of "young" fell short of what he truly was.

Although his appearance might seem ordinary at first glance, everything around him was far from common. He floated, suspended in the air as if the laws of physics were mere suggestions. The aura he radiated was of constant change, as if the very essence of something incomprehensible flowed from him. It was as terrifying as it was beautiful. An incomprehensible truth to any mortal mind. It was like watching a primordial truth before your eyes, a masterpiece that no human should be able to witness.

Beside him, fought a young girl with pink hair, bathed in a warm glow. Her power wasn't as overwhelming as that of the being beside her, but she held a serene, almost maternal beauty. Her aura enveloped the chaos like a balm, the perfect representation of protection amidst unrestrained violence.

And then there was her, an ordinary human trapped in the eye of the storm. Protected by a semi-transparent shield that glowed faintly, created by the boy—not, calling him "boy" would be an insult. He wasn't just an ordinary mortal. This being, with his uncontrollable power, was a God, a deity. Beside such beings, humanity seemed fragile, small, almost irrelevant.

Her mind couldn't process what she saw, but her body felt it. A primal terror, mixed with a strange reverence, filled every fiber of her being. She didn't know how to feel. Should she fear it? Should she worship it?

...

A chill ran down Adrian's spine. He felt something happening, as if the foundations of an old story were being laid, a cycle repeated countless times.