“That’s helpful.”
“It is, especially with some of the things that I’ve been working on. I should show you, really.”
“I’m sure I’ll see them at some point,” Yoshimi said with a soft smile. “But today, I’m going to tell you something your predecessor really should have explained to you at the start. I know that you will need some of your power for what is supposed to happen later today, but you did say that you can gauge your ability, correct?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Good, then perhaps you can set yourself a limit to expend if you choose to utilize what I’m about to show you.” Yoshimi waved him in front of her. “You have asked before about making food, and something I didn’t tell you about was that it takes a little bit of your mantlecore away to do so, but a very trace amount.”
“So making food is bad for me?”
“It’s not exactly bad for you, due to it being such a small amount. What is bad for you is when you create an entire world, as I have done, and as your predecessor has done. Also splitting your mantle, that takes a toll. When you make something like your crow,” she said, gesturing toward Hugin, “you use your power to do so, but you don’t extinguish your core.”
“I still don’t understand why creating something like this doesn’t do anything to my core, but creating food does.”
“How much harder was it to create food than it was to create your crow?” she asked.
“It was a lot harder, actually. And it took some trial and error.”
“That’s why. When you create something as complex as food, with its taste and smell and the memories associated with it, it is shaped by your mantlecore, not your actual power. Of course, since you are tracking these things, you will see that creating them drained from your power, which recovers daily.”
“It does.”
“But your mantlecore doesn’t. Don’t forget that. Here’s where these potions you’ve suggested come into play. To enhance an object you would need to use some of your mantlecore to do so, which means you would need to be careful in what you enhanced.”
“Do you think I’ve already been doing it some?” Lucian asked.
“With your chocolate? Yes.”
“No, something else, something you haven’t seen yet. I’ve been working on this giant robot that I’m calling Grimzilla. He’s enormous. Like the size of a building in Tokyo or something. I named it after Godzilla.”
“I’m familiar,” she said. “And why do you think that creating this has used some of your mantlecore?”
“Because of the sheer size of the thing. Most of the weapons have been out of thin air and with little forethought. Or maybe I made them out of necessity. Yeah, sometimes it was just a necessity. But this wasn’t that type of creation. I’ve worked on Grimzilla for several days, and there were a few days that I just poured my power into him until I was exhausted. That’s why I’m wondering if it affected my core.”
“Your goal being?”
“To make him stronger,” Lucian said with a shrug. “This one is sort of my showstopper, you know, only to be used as a last-ditch resort. And I wanted him to be incredibly powerful.”
“And large, it seems.”
“If you want to see it…”
“You really are interested in showing me, aren’t you?”
“It’s maybe the coolest thing I’ve made yet, so yeah. I want to show it off a little.”
“Very well.” She extended her hand toward Lucian. “We can continue our discussion there.” Lucian lightly touched her palm, both of them whisked away to Old Death’s world, to the desert, where Grimzilla stood guard in all his mecha glory.
“Oh, my,” Yoshimi said as she looked up at his towering creation, Grimzilla’s shadow completely covering both of them.
Her eyes moved to the giant blades slowly pressing out of Grimzilla’s forearms, weapons starting to lift from compartments on his shoulders, as if he were showing off.
“Yeah, he’s pretty big.”
“How do you plan to use this robot?” Yoshimi asked as she floated into the air. She stopped at about eye level with his creation, Lucian joining her.
“Like I said, a showstopper. He’s going to come in at the end swinging and breaking things and shooting at anyone or anything trying to take me down.”
Yoshimi cautiously placed her hand on his creation’s chest.
“That’s the cockpit,” Lucian told her. “Or at least that’s what I’m calling the cockpit. I don’t know what else I should call it.”
“You can control this thing as well?”
“Yeah, he’s pretty sweet, right?”
“It is a bit unorthodox, but I guess it could work.”
Lucian rubbed the back of his head. “Maybe I did go a little overboard. Anyway, this is him.”
“Well, there isn’t really a way to tell if you have put some of your core into this, at least I’m not aware of a way I could gauge this. But we can examine your mantlecore and see what it looks like, to see how much you have.”
“Seriously? We can do that?”
Yoshimi nodded as she lowered to the ground. “Let me start by showing you mine.”
As soon as Lucian touched down, the female Death brought her hand over her chest. She began to pull her hand back, energy radiating from her palm. Once she was about eight inches away from her chest, a purple ball of energy began to form.
“This is my mantlecore,” she said as it floated into the space between them.
For a moment the sphere was bright, but then the light oscillating around its edges settled, Lucian noticing that part of it was missing, that there was something frayed about it, pixilated in a way.
“Do you see?”
“The pieces that are missing, right?”
“It’s subtle, but it should be visible.”
“Yeah, I see it. Little bits missing,” Lucian said as he took a step closer to it, examining her mantlecore. “How did you pull it out of your body like that?”
“I will get to that moment. What you should understand about your mantlecore is that it is directly correlated to your power, yet while you can replenish your power, you cannot rebuild your core. Even if I went out and killed every Death in existence, consuming all of their power, I would not be able to fix any of the pieces that were missing from mine. I would grow incredibly strong, but I wouldn’t be able to repair it.”
“Weird,” Lucian said, wishing it were the other way, that killing other Deaths actually rebuilt his core.
Yoshimi continued: “The more frayed your core is, the less powerful your weapons and powers are. So even if I were able to do what I just said, kill every Death, I wouldn’t grow much more powerful than I am now. I’ve hit my limit because of the slow degradation of my mantlecore due to the things I’ve had to create.”
“So creating these worlds, that’s what has diminished your core?”
“Yes, and generally abusing my power in the beginning, when I was a young Death. The reason I told you, or rather, I suggested that you leave your family behind is because I didn’t do that myself.” She bowed her head in shame.
“What do you mean?”
“I ended up splitting my core several times to try to convert them.”
“So splitting your core…” Lucian nodded. “Okay, that definitely makes sense, that would extinguish your mantlecore. You said that already. Wait a minute, are you saying your family are all Deaths now?”
“They were, until I had to kill them.” A dark look came over Yoshimi’s face as she relived the experience. “Some people don’t take very well to this life. In fact, most don’t. The ones you have met are the ones that have tolerated it. You’d be surprised how many people try to split their mantle only to be greeted by disaster through the person they have passed it onto. I had to take action.”
“So you had to kill your own family members once they became like us?”
Yoshimi didn’t say anything, but Lucian could tell by her body language
that she wanted to move on.
“But that is neither here nor there. The past is the past, and even Death can’t change that. Anyway, are you ready?”
“Sure, show me how to do this.”
“It isn’t really that hard,” she said, a slight breeze whipping up the ends of her kimono.
“Simply place your hand over your chest and press your power into your hand, the same way you would strengthen your giant robot, or create a piece of chocolate.”
“Okay,” Lucian said as he touched his chest.
He imagined himself pulling his power forward, and as he did so, he started to withdraw his hand.
Nothing happened at first, but then a purple sphere of energy ignited and quickly turned white, Lucian able to now feel it, as if his fingers were moving through water.
Once he got the hang of the way it felt, he presented his mantlecore to Yoshimi, the ball of energy hovering in the air between them next to hers.
“Well?”
“It’s quite strong,” she said. “Can’t you tell? There are hardly any signs of usage.”
Lucian examined it, noticing that it looked nothing like Yoshimi’s core.
“You have a ways to go,” she said, bringing her core back into her body.
Lucian did the same, pressing his mantlecore into his chest as a warm feeling spread through him.
Yoshimi tilted her head as she looked him over. “You know, I have given some thought to the potion that you were trying to create, and subsequently created.”
“Yeah, it blew off my arms.”
“I’m aware,” she said with a rare chuckle. “I’m sure it was entertaining for your creations.” Yoshimi gestured toward Hugin and Munin.
“Maybe,” Lucian said. “Why do you bring it up?”
“You have never experienced something like a potion outside of these video games of yours, correct?”
“I guess you’re right, aside from some medicine.”
“And you tried to create it in the same way you created your wonderful chocolate, is that correct?”
Lucian nodded, not sure of where she was going with this.
“Do you still have it?”
Lucian smiled. “I’m sure it’s around here somewhere,” he said, a boiling cauldron appearing in the air.
“You used the cauldron to make it?”
“Yeah, I know it’s cliché. I filled it with lake water. I forgot to mention, there’s a lake near the place that I stay. This isn’t my home, in case you couldn’t tell.” Lucian nodded toward the desert. “Actually, where are my manners…”
He offered Yoshimi his hand. As soon as she touched Lucian, they were whisked away to his workshop, the illustrious city on the other side of the cliff, the cauldron still floating in the air.
“That’s the water,” Lucian said, smiling out at the lake. “I have a room downstairs too.”
“I see, so…”
“Old Death, he lived down there,” Lucian said, pointing to the ground. “I went ahead and added this place up here.”
“And you realize to do so that you may have had to use your mantlecore, right?”
“I realize now that you have told me how all this works, sure. Wait, how would I know if this was my mantlecore or just my Soul Points?”
“Soul Points, yes, that’s what you call your power.”
Lucian nodded.
“You know, considering the size of what you have done here, it could lean either way. I should rephrase that statement: usage of your mantlecore is not necessarily related to the size of what you create, although your giant robot may lead you to believe otherwise. There are other subtle aspects to it, and from my experience, weapons generally never drain any of the core. Strengthening one, as you did with your giant robot, that would take some of the core. Relating this back to our original conversation, you had to focus to make your chocolate. Have you had to focus on anything else in the same way?”
“Coffee, would you like some?”
“Sure,” she said with a nod.
Lucian procured a cup of coffee and handed it to her. Yoshimi took a sip, impressed with the flavor. “It is good.”
“It was important to get it right,” Lucian said as his crows zipped around, Ezra appearing. “I also focused some into my sword, but not a lot.”
“When you created this area up here, did it put a strain on you in any way?”
Lucian thought back to when he first built his workshop. “I can’t say that it did. It came sort of naturally to me.”
“Then it likely didn’t use your core.”
The two stood there for a moment, each drinking their cup of coffee. When they were finished, Yoshimi motioned the cauldron over to her. She took a look at the liquid inside, and glanced back to Lucian.
“Anyway, like chocolate, I just sort of poured my power into it. Actually, I guess there was more with the chocolate. You know, I’m not saying this right. I looked up a recipe for the chocolate,” Lucian said. “Which makes no sense because the sugar and butter and whatever didn’t have flavor, but the chocolate did. Anyway. I feel like I poured a lot into the cauldron, but maybe it was all in my head.”
Yoshimi’s eyebrows raised.
“Yes?”
“Was it always so dark and sludgy?”
“It was after the second time, before I blew off my arms. Yeah.”
“I may need to study this for a little bit longer,” she finally said. “I really wish you could have this potion available to you in today’s battle, but I don’t want to get it wrong. I would like to have some time to test it, to modify with my own power, if need be.”
“You don’t have to do that...”
“I want to do it. To be honest, I’ve never heard of someone creating an elixir like this to use in a fight. As you have experienced, the food I make is naturally rejuvenating, but it won’t do much to your power, it will just make you feel better. But to create something that would actually replenish your power, that may take a little experimenting. You don’t mind if I take this cauldron with me, do you?”
“Not at all,” he said, floating it closer to her. “It was just sitting in my inventory list not really doing anything.”
“Your ‘inventory list.’ I like the way you use that term.” Concern flashed across Yoshimi’s dark, nacreous eyes. “Be safe today. And know when it is time to leave. Again, I’m sorry that I’m not able to join you.” She bowed to Lucian, and he graciously returned her bow.
“This is my fight to fight, and it’s not really my fight actually, it’s my predecessor’s fight. But I’ve got to be there for the start of it, and I’ve got a few of my own surprises for these clowns.”
“Yes, many of them really are clowns, but even clowns can be dangerous.”
“I’m pretty sure Stephen King wrote a couple books about that,” Lucian said with a smirk.
“An author?”
“American author. You wouldn’t know him.”
“I’m afraid not.” She bowed again, the cauldron now floating to her left. “I appreciate your company, Lucian.”
“I appreciate yours as well.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Setting the Stage
Lucian paced back and forth, deciding how he should proceed. He was still in front of his workshop, Grimzilla standing to the left of the lake, his two Grim Mechas standing in front of him.
For one, he would need more replicants.
With a wave of his hand, Lucian created another Grim Mecha, who lined up with the other two.
“That should be good, for now.”
It made sense to want to make his creations stronger, but if there was a limit, Lucian needed to be careful.
Even with the fact that he could create an entire world and still not drain his mantlecore, evident in the place he was currently standing, he wanted to preserve it.
Lucian had no idea how long he would be a Grim Reaper, but he planned to be powerful all the way until the end, the exact opposite of how he’d been in his real life
.
But there was one thing that he could put power into, something that would always be with him.
Lucian’s armor grew out of his skin, coating his body and hardening.
After it formed, he focused on the armor, thickening and condensing the bone-like material. He added ridges, smoothed them out, and began imagining make-believe metals of ungodly strength. Adamantine, Carbonadium, Mithril, Vibranium.
He grew a bit lightheaded as a warm sensation moved through him, his armor taking on a metallic sheen.
By the time he was finished, Lucian practically resembled one of his replicants. He was completely decked out in head-to-toe metal, all the joints flexible, Lucian able to move just as fluidly as if he weren’t wearing the armor.
“What about us?” Hugin asked, the crow hovering before him. Munin wasn’t far off, his spherical creation doing circles around Ezra.
“I guess you two will always be with me, so it makes sense to make you a bit stronger,” Lucian raised his hand, and Hugin moved forward, power filtering out of Lucian’s fingertips and swirling around his crow. “Munin, get over here.”
The second crow came to them as well, joining Hugin until their metal darkened.
“That should be enough,” he said. “I don’t want to overdo it. This has to last.”
“Understandable. Shall we go then?”
Lucian grinned at Hugin. “When did you start using the word ‘shall?’”
“When you started using it.”
“I used it?” Lucian asked.
“You should eat some chocolate before we go.”
“Good call,” Lucian said as a plate of chocolate appeared in the air. He ate the pieces one at a time, observing his stats.
Lucian knew at that moment that he should have been paying more attention to his Soul Points while he was working on augmenting things, especially considering what he had to do today. He definitely didn’t want the battle to take place in Old Death’s world, Lucian preferring to do this in a familiar location, somewhere that gave them the element of surprise.
The beach in Portland, Maine.
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