Chương 46: R&R Ch. 46 — Whatever it Takes

Nicholas wasn't sure what he expected entering Jasmine's soul forge, but it being a cluttered mess mixed with a garden just seemed about right for what he knew about her.

"When did you get it ready for other people?" Nicholas asked as he helped her put away the weapons. All of her weapons and armor had proper places to go; it was everything else that was a mess, but he guessed it was the whole division of professional life versus daily life.

"Last week it finally grew enough to let other people in, but I haven't had time to clean it," Jasmine said as she grabbed the knife that screamed danger to Nicholas. There was something terrifying about a soul-carving knife. But that brought up an important question. Physically, both of them were right as rain once again without a scratch on them, but mentally and spiritually, both of them were run ragged in a way that it would take each of them a long time to recover.

"Are you sure we should do this with our souls so damaged?" Nicholas would trust whatever answer Jasmine gave him; she was the expert when it came to this whole soul thing, so he was just going to follow her lead.

"I mean, according to all knowledge we have, this shouldn't be attempted no matter what situation either of us are in, except for people who ended up being the exceptions to the rule. But I actually think it might be a boon?" Jasmine shrugged as she led him to the center of her forge and the nexus of her power.

"Oh, why is that?"

"Well, if our souls need to heal outside of the specific damage I cause, which both does and doesn't count, there's a pretty good chance they adapt to the connection. Souls are pretty resilient things." Jasmine explained as she got everything ready.

"So what all does the process entail?"

"Well, I'm going to cut our souls enough to make two weapons and merge them. You're going to focus on what aspects of power you want me to have from your soul and vice versa, and then we shape them together."

"That doesn't sound too bad?"

"Yup, I'm going to trust you to design something cool for me since you're going to be the one deciding what it looks like by and large. I've already got a great idea for you," Jasmine laughed, spinning the knife on her finger. Nicholas paused, thinking about what his power gave him that Jasmine would have a use for. The design he figured would just reflect that portion of the weapon. Their powers were similar, both of them having a toolbox ability, but what was the difference between the two?

He knew instantly what of Jasmine's abilities he would have wanted the most. There really was no context for which of her abilities he wanted. The fact that she had enough authority to compete was everything he could imagine wanting. But did he have anything for her? Their powers were equally flexible… They were equally flexible, but they weren't flexible at the same time. Jasmine could make anything with her ability, but that didn't mean she could use anything she made at any given moment.

There was only so much she could handle at once, and even if that was a trait that would get easier as they grew in strength, it was an avenue of strength he had some sway over. A tool to be flexible in the moment, but what shape is that? That was a simple question.

"I think I'm ready when you are," Nicholas said once he finished coming up with a general idea in his head.

"Okay, this is going to hurt a lot, especially because I need you to be part of the whole process," Jasmine said, stepping forward, soul-carving knife in hand. Nicholas tried his best to not quake in fear, but it was a near thing, Jasmine was terrifying holding that weapon and he was going to just let her do it to him so that they could have a better chance fighting these battles and future ones. She had said if this worked it was an edge that would always grow with them; they wouldn't be growing out of it.

"Two weapons, right?"

"Yup, and I had the idea to daisy chain it so that hopefully the weapons can handle the side effects since anything that is sent through my weapon has to go through yours before reaching you and vice versa." Jasmine explained, gesturing. Nicholas stepped back, not wanting to accidentally get cut. But it seemed like a good idea.

"Let's do this." Instead of stabbing him like Nicholas had expected, Jasmine grabbed his hand, and the world began to tremble. A green flame flowed out of Jasmine, and a blue river flowed out of him. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Are those?"

"Yeah, the manifestations of our souls," Jasmine agreed as both energies coalesced into a vaguely humanoid shape, one for each of them. Nicholas could only watch in fascination as Jasmine carved off pieces of her soul before directing the severed pieces to the emerald anvil near the center of the forge. Jasmine's soul shivered and collapsed back into a sphere of fire before expanding back out to a humanoid shape, though it was more see-through this time than it had been before.

"So how much is this going to suck?"

"A lot sorry." Nicholas couldn't ask about that as Jasmine stepped forward, still holding his hand and getting to work cutting up his soul. He didn't scream in pain, but it was a near thing as he tried to force his body to function even as it felt like a piece of his existence was being ripped apart. It was different to when he had caused damage to his soul previously; there was just something off about the whole situation. It was clinical, and it was absolute agony.

Nicholas involuntarily squeezed Jasmine's hand tightly as he focused on why they were doing this. More than that, he had absolute trust in Jasmine, and he wasn't going to let something like this change it. He had faith in her; they were partners; they were friends, and they would see the path to the end. He didn't care anymore if one of them or the other would slow them down and make it so they couldn't achieve their goals. They would make it to the end together, or they would falter together.

Either way, he would not stop doing everything he could for both of them.

"All done with that step," Jasmine panted as the two souls returned to their hosts, leaving only the carved-off pieces swirling around the anvil.

"So now what?"

"We're going to direct our soul shards to merge and become one existence. After that, we're going to coalesce it into two pieces of reality. And with our will and desires shape them." Jasmine explained swinging their linked hands as she talked.

"Okay, that makes sense, but do our dreams actually have anything to do with it?"

"These are our souls still even if they're separated; our state of being and what we're thinking about matters more than anything else."

"Okay." Nicholas focused internally, slowly dragging up the pieces of himself that he wanted to have at the forefront of their forging. The person he wanted to be and the road he wanted to walk. If his desires impacted the weapons, then he would have them be in the purest form that he could.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready," Nicholas said as he squeezed her hand once again. Holding hands wasn't exactly necessary for this part of the process, but linking physical motions helped you direct your souls to work together, so Jasmine was more than happy to keep holding hands. In unison they both raised their free hands and will was directed into the souls. Emerald flames and sapphire water twisted around one another as they sought to become one existence. Jasmine wasn't doing this to make sure Nicholas could keep up.

She wasn't doing this because she was concerned that she would be unable to keep up. Jasmine made wonders because she wanted to be a hero, and Nicholas did the same. So of course they would make a wonder together to push them to new heights. There's a click and then she could feel Nicholas's soul with the same clarity that she could sense her own, and she knew he felt the same. And before them was a cyan soul shard with the texture of liquid flame.

Jasmine could already feel the bleed-through happening to the two of them as their existences flowed into the soul shards and then through the link, forming a feedback loop, but their wills were ironclad. Even the people that handled this the worst lasted two days before separation of the identities became impossible and she knew they would do better. They were going to protect each other; that was clear as glass through the connection.

Even still, she couldn't tell who started the next part as the liquid flames rose into the air before diverting into two pools, one for each of them to work. Or more accurately. Two of them to work on the same time. She wasn't sure; it could be the second source of will she had in the process, or it could be the fusion of their souls was more malleable. But this was the easiest time she had forging souls since making the defensive charms.

Just like that time, there was no shortage of drive for why she wanted to make this creation. That time it had been to protect the two of them. This time it was so that they could protect other people. They would not be stopped, and they would keep going to the end. The two weapons coalesced, if you could call either of them weapons. A book with what appeared to be a cover made of gold. And a silver sphere of what felt like quicksilver, even if it wasn't flowing like a liquid right now.

She had questions, but she ignored them. This wasn't the time for that, and she wouldn't be distracted in the final hour, not when she had work to do. They were in the shapes they were supposed to be in, and they were manifest in the world now; it was time for the final part. Imbuing them with power and fully intertwining the soul used for construction into the item so that it would be able to keep growing without fear of what is going to happen.

As they worked, Jasmine felt their connection fading as Nicholas drifted apart. The two that were almost one now going back to being distinctly two with very clear separation of who they were, even if there was still some connection. The connection never faded even as they drifted apart to a more natural distance for close souls. Jasmine couldn't help but grin; they had done it. In all of her research, they had said there wasn't a distance to the souls. She had figured out a way to do it.

All it required was absolute trust in someone and to make them a weapon from your soul and the two of you working in tandem.

"Ready?" Nicholas asked as they prepared for the final step.

"Let's do this," Jasmine agreed, the cyan light still flickering around the room. As one, they brought their willpower down like a hammer, forcing the world to bend to their will as reality twisted under their administrations." Create" Jasmine knew Nicholas had said the word, but she knew she had too, and her power flowed just like how his power had been flowing like hers during the forging process. It was done.

The two of them sagged to the floor in relief, even as the orb of quicksilver and the gold book floated to their respective owners. With a brief tug they were pulled into their souls. They had done it.