Ayvex quickly flaps her wings, gaining altitude at a rapid pace. Then, with one swift motion, she flies forward and far out of sight. I stare in the direction she's flying, having more of Nevereth's memories surfacing.
"So, she's the fastest flier on the planet, huh? She shouldn't take too long."
I mumble to myself, then spin around as someone taps my shoulder. I see Azeroth staring at me.
"So, uh, I think you lost this."
I tilt my head, slightly confused. Azeroth reaches back, using the same technique that Vex often used. His shadow stretches up, Hexcalibur being revealed as the shadows unwrap from it. He takes the sword, struggling to pick it up.
"Damn, how do you even use this thing? It weighs as much as a carriage."
He grunts, lifting it with both hands. He starts to hand it towards me, but accidentally drops it. In a flash, I extend my hand and catch the blade. I feel myself lean slightly, but counter the downward force by quickly pulling my hand and the sword to my chest.
"You're right. I guess I never paid attention to how heavy it really was."
I still manage to easily spin the blade around, but now realizing the blade isn't super sharp. The reason it rips through most opponents is due to the momentum behind its absurd weight. Azeroth hands me a sheath for it. I nod and take it, quickly strapping it to my back.
As I finish attaching it to my back, I look back to Azeroth.
"I didn't know you had [Shadow Stalk] as well? I thought only Vex and I had that spell."
I look at his shadow, which seems to shimmer slightly. Azeroth chuckles.
"Well, about that."
He pauses for a moment, seemingly nervous.
"This isn't my shadow."
I feel a burst of confusion, followed by Nevereth's memories. But no matter how hard I try to find an explanation, neither Nevereth's or my memories, have an answer. I quickly speak up.
"I don't know of a spell that creates a new shadow? And based on Nevereth's memories, he never created such a spell."
Azeroth nods.
"I don't know how to explain it, but..."
He holds his chest and takes a deep breath.
"Ayvex, or uh, Vex, gave me his shadow before taking his own life."
I close my eyes and think deeply.
I don't recall any magic like that? Could it be that Vex managed to create magic? Or maybe it's the result of a magical item? It doesn't seem like Azeroth knows what happened exactly either.
I open my eyes and nod.
"Did Vex say anything before he supposedly gave you, his shadow?"
Azeroth thinks for a moment, then nods.
"He said 'I won't be able to use this, so you should have it.' Then he touched my shoulder. I felt a strange pain through my body as his shadow and mine pulled together then tore apart."
Only one spell seemingly echoes from Nevereth's memories. I place my hand on my mouth, trying to hear the spells name.
Think, come on, it's right there. It's so close, why is the memory buried so deep?
Suddenly it bursts forth. The memories of the spell make my heart seemingly drop. A spell that Nevereth seemingly harbors extensive regret for.
[Souls Requiem], but there should be no way that Vex could've known it? But, in the moment, I guess it could've occurred. A spell that only appears when one is fully prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. A spell that exchanges not shadows, but all stats and spells.
I quickly look back to Azeroth and speak up.
"Open your stats."
Azeroth stares at me, almost confused by my sudden orders. After several seconds, he opens his stats and stares at it, almost speechless.
"I don't...?"
I nod, his reaction seemingly solidifying my guess.
So, Vex somehow unlocked [Souls Requiem], then traded his spells and stats to Azeroth.
I feel saddened, understanding Ayvex's plan to take her own life and return to her true form.
But if avatars can take their own lives to regain their true form, why didn't Grim? Why didn't Nevereth take my life?
Almost as soon as I raise the question, an old memory floats to the surface. I see Ayvex throw her platinum sword towards Grim, but she accidentally hits Nevereth first. The blade pins Nevereth to Grim. Whereas Grim starts falling unconscious, Nevereth seemingly fades away.
Nevereth was truly sealed away? That's why he didn't have a body to go back too?
I nod, understanding a little more about what happened. I look around, noticing now thousands of people have made it through the portal. Blankk walks over to Azeroth and I, waving as he gets closer.
"So, when are we going to teleport?"
With another quick look around, I make a decision.
"I think we should wait a few more hours. But while we wait, I'll get started on creating weapons."
Blankk nods, patting Azeroth on the back and nodding for him to follow. As they walk away, I quickly sit on the ground and close my eyes. I start using magic to create weapons, trying to make them as perfect as possible. I create a weapon, lay it on the ground next to me, and repeat the process.
Hours seemingly blink by, time seemingly distorting while in my focused state. Seconds turn to minutes to hours. I open my eyes, feeling content with the number of weapons I made. Roughly one weapon every second.
"Roughly ten thousand weapons. Should be enough for now."
I put my palms on the ground, but feel a sharp stinging feeling in my palms. I jerk my hand back, looking at it. Surprisingly, all the skin from my palms is gone, and blue and black energy writhing where the skin once was.
I search Nevereth's memories for an explanation, quickly finding it.
"So only his true form could create magic and magical items with no drawbacks. This is a magic burn."
I clench my fist and exhale.
"[True Healing 1]."
I see the energy fade away as my skin grows back into place. I clench my fist a few times and stand up, noticing the army has grown significantly since I last opened my eyes. Only half the army seems to have weapons, the weapons I made. With a quick glance, I see people still coming through the portal.
"I'm going to need to make a lot more weapons."