Lord Shadow

Chapter 1595 Pure of Heart

"Is this the forging of the Ten rings?" Azief ask. 

Borgan smiles. But she did not answer the question. Then she chuckles and shakes her head. 

"No, not quite yet" 

Azief narrows his eyes.

"The, wha-" before Azief could finish asking his question, Borgan cut off his words

"Watch"

Azief felt frustrated but he took a deep breath and calm himself down. 

He nodded.

There is still many things he wanted to ask. But he got a feeling that unless he watch what she wanted him to watch, she would never release him from this place. 

Right now, the advantage is on Borgan. Because apparently she is the only one who knows what this place is. 

And Azief didn't. So, the power is on her. 

Of course, Azief himself is curious. 

So, he focused back on the scene

He sees this Phaistos happily forging things whether it be weapons, shields or even toys. It is not weapons that he likes forging.

It is the very act of crafting things from something and changing its form and its use….that is what fascinates him. 

And Azief begins to realize something.

Phaitos didn't really understand the concept of war or the concept of fighting in battle. He keeps forging weapons, shields and all kinds of things day in and day out. 

He does it because he loves it. He loves the hammer on his hand when it smash through stars and planets which he uses to forge divine weapons and divine shield. 

He loves the feeling of being tired and sweating. He loves the fire that would lick his arms and the feeling of having a job. 

He is a simple being with simple desires. 

Every day as the sun rises, Phaitos heads to his forge, ready to craft weapons for the war effort. 

With relentless determination, he hammers and moulds divine weapons with the raw materials of stars and planets, driven by a sense of purpose.

When evening descends, Phaitos sets aside his mighty hammer and seals the forge's fiery heart. 

At this point, he takes to the cosmos, consuming the celestial clouds and devouring entire worlds.

  The destruction that follows seems to escape his awareness, as his actions are purely driven by an instinctual desire, oblivious to the havoc he inadvertently wreaks.

Azief look at all of this and he doesn't even realize tens of thousands of years passes as he watches the same thing. 

And then Borgan tapped his shoulder and he was finally awakened

And the moment he awakened, his eyes turns vigilant and he look at Borgan and then he sighed

"he doesn't know"

Borgan nodded

"he is strong" At this Borgan nodded again

"too strong" Borgan chuckles

"Strong enough"

"But he doesn't know"

"he doesn't know"

Azief takes a deep breath and sigh

"Why?" 

"Because no one wanted him to know"

"Why?" Azief ask again

And Borgan answers again

"Because then he would never pick up his hammer again"

There is another silence and Azief tries to remember what he sees and then in the end he could only look back at Borgan. 

Borgan seems to know that Azief wanted to ask a question and she nodded

And so, he ask

"Why?"

"His father is dead. He understand death and life….at least to a certain point. He is a simple being. But he doesn't understand what is living things and what isn't"

She paused for a second and then continue saying

"When he drinks the clouds, what he drank is actually the stars and sun and moon. When he ate worlds, he thought he ate candy"

Borgan look at Phaitos and sigh

"Karma, cause and effect….all of this does not exist before" Azief had heard that the Etherna lives before Time seems to be created. 

Or at least before there is the appearance of Time 

Because in the beginning the Etherna did not have to fear death.

  They are alive and they lack nothing and they do not feel hungry and do not feel thirsty and because they never died, they did not have so much desire. 

Even the most ardent desire is dulled after fulfilling it so many times. They lack thrill and they lack desire. 

At least that is what he heard. 

Whether that is the truth is something that Azief did not know. But hearing Borgan saying it like that, it might be that different from what he had thought

Borgan continue her words

"But then living beings appears and cause and effect began to appear. Karma also began to appear. Life and destruction appears. Chaos is the constant. Death is the inevitable. But life….life is the rebellion"

Azief sigh after hearing her answer. And for a moment there is silence between both of them 

He asked three why

The first why is "Why does no one let him know that his weapons and shield is used to kill people? 

Why does no one understand that Phaistos doesn't know that what he did created death and destruction all over the Universe

He knows he only needs to ask why because Borgan is a clairvoyant. 

She already knows what he is going to answer

But everything has its order and rule.

So, he still need to ask. Even though Borgan knows what he is going to ask. So, he simply ask "Why?"

And then he ask why again

The second Why

The second why is "Why does no one wanted him to know?" And Borgan answer

"Because then he would never pick up his hammer again"

And the third why is "Why would he not pick up his hammer again if he knew?" And so, Borgan tells him why

And so, after hearing the answer, Azief could only sigh. 

And then he look back at Phaistos and once again he muttered

"Why he is so strong?" 

The reason Azief asked this is because before in one of the experiences that Phaitos experience was that he fought against a champion of the Etherna.

  This champion heard that Phaitos could break any amor and shield and so he came to challenge. 

In the memory, Phaitos and the Etherna champion faced off amidst the fiery chaos of the forge. 

The Etherna champion's power was immense, and his body radiated a fiery aura, matching the intensity of the forge itself. 

He wielded a colossal, ornate shield adorned with blazing flames and an enormous, blazing sword.

Phaitos, on the other hand, stood resolute, his stony features calm and determined

As the champion swung his blazing sword with unparalleled strength, the sky seemed to shatter into fragments. 

The colossal shield he held could have easily withstood any attack. However, Phaitos brought his massive hammer down with astonishing precision.

The impact sent shockwaves through the forge, and the champion's shield crumbled as if it were made of paper. 

The Etherna champion staggered back, his energy nearly sent reeling from his very form. 

Phaitos smash through the seemingly invulnerable shield, proving that his skills as a blacksmith were matched only by his prowess as a warrior.

One swing of his hammer and the sky splits into fragments and the shield was destroyed and the one holding the shield nearly have his energy to be smack out of him

That is one of the many happenings in Phaitos life. And it shocked Azief. Because all he sees Phaitos doing is just forging and crafting things.

Yet, he is so powerful that even a renowned warrior of the Etherna could not defeat a blacksmith.

Borgan smiles bitterly and she answered

"Pure of heart" this is her answer and the moment she said that, Azief suddenly understood. 

"Ah" Phaitos , for thousands of years forges weapons. He could even create divine weapons while closing his eyes.

And he even loves what he is doing. He is not doing it for materials or any resources. He simply wanted to do it and in the process of doing so, he created his own law and he became the source of fire

And Azief could tell that Phaitos could craft anything imaginable. His love for crafting things made his thought become a reality

What he could think of, he could create. 

Maybe he is just a blacksmith in the beginning. But then his domain of power grew. From blacksmithing, to fire, to craft, to building and then finally to creation. 

And Azief is shocked as he saw how Phaitos grew in power

Azief saw how Phaitos crafted lightning bolts made from primordial thunder 

When it is hurled, it splits opens worlds and burn an entire star system with a hot white fire. 

Azief saw how Phaitos crafted a bow. This bow is crafted from particles of stars and its arrows has the properties of black hole.

When it is shot, it absorbs light and an eternal darkness descend before the power of the arrow wipes out life. 

Azief saw Phaitos crafted a spear which could ignore space and time and stab anyone it wanted and those who are stabbed by it would have their existence erased from the timeline. 

Azief saw Phaitos crafted shoes for Asargan allowing him to run even faster, with primordial lightning following him, creating an offensive shield around him. 

And until finally, Azief saw Phaitos created life. 

From clay, he crafted a golem-like creature. Mishappen faced, misshapen body but great strength. He crafted seven of them and seven of them help him forge things in his forge. 

These seven beings that he had created , just like him has immunity towards fire. 

Seeing this Azief could not help but be shocked. 

"He creates"

And Borgan nodded

"he creates" she reiterated. 

"I want you to understand him"

She paused for a second and then she shakes her head

Then she mutters 

"What a pure soul" she paused for a second and sighing. Then she said

"What a lonely soul" 

For a moment, there is only the sound of those hammers and the sound of fires in the forge. It was like Borgan was reminiscing. And Azief observes all of this like a spectator

Azief himself feels a little awkward in his current position. 

Because this is not his memories 

This is other people memories and it felt like dong something wrong, seeing other people memories like this

Borgan look at Azief and like she could tell what he was thinking she said

"Don't worry about it. He would not mind"

Azief could only nod at this. 

Then Borgan waves her hand again and this time Azief felt time around him moves swiftly and then just like before, when he just was about to familiarize himself with the sudden changes in his time and space, it ended 

"Again?" he thought to himself

…