The owner of the blue eyes walked out of the store, revealing a shadow version of Burek.
He was still bald and muscular. But instead of the tattoos of animals, his body was instead covered in light blue runes. Unlike the other shadows, Burek's skin wasn't blue, but entirely black and wispy like a real shadow. The only signs of blue on his body were his new tattoos, his eyes, and the formerly red cloth tied around his waist.
"Kill them," Ultio said simply as he turned to face the sky. His eyes were fixed on a mass of shadows that seemed to blend in with the beautiful starry sky due to the blue lines on its large body.
With mighty flap of its wings, the shadow of the Wyvern lowered itself to the maximum. It would have loved to land beside its master, but the street was too narrow for its massive winged frame.
From the back of the shadow Wyvern, a blue and black figure leapt onto the ground and landed in a kneeling position a few feet away from Ultio.
"We have returned, Boss," Hermes said, as soon as Ultio turned to face him.
The man in question chuckled and patted Hermes' shoulder. "I can see that, Hermes," He told the loyal shadow with a small laugh.
As Ultio patted Hermes' shoulder, he noticed that another tattoo had appeared on his right arm. It was a tribal tattoo that appeared around his wrist. It was a simple, inch-thick band of tribal designs, but it couldn't escape Ultio's eyes.
It was obviously formed as a result of Burek's resurrection as a shadow. However this left Ultio confused, as he hadn't received a tattoo after resurrecting the basic shadow soldier.
'It might have something to do with either the individual's mentality, or the strength of their soul,' Ultio thought as he eyed a tattoo reminiscent of a skeletal hand, which had appeared on the back of his left hand after he resurrected the Wyvern.
Though he highly doubted his own conclusion, as he was sure Hermes' soul was not special in any way, and the Wyvern most likely did not possess a 'mentality'.
However at this point, Ultio was forced back to reality as Hermes suddenly shot past him, leaving a sonic boom in his wake, as well as a small crater of pulverized earth.
Ultio took his time to turn around. What he saw made him force down a mocking laugh.
One of the thugs being manhandled by Burek's shadow had managed to sneak away from the brutish shadow, and attempted a sneak attack on Ultio. Unfortunately– No, fortunately for the thug, he was caught by Hermes, and not Ultio himself, otherwise he would have suffered an extremely bitter fate.
Hermes simply took off the man's head with his shadow weapon, before returning to Ultio's side.
As he returned, Ultio noticed that his weapon was no longer just a random shortsword. It now had the appearance of a half-broken Ninjato, which a type of straight sword. Due to the fact that it was half-broken, its range was minimised, but Ultio wasn't worried, because as long as it was wielded by Hermes, he would be able to get within range, no matter how far he is.
By the time Hermes had returned, Burek's shadow had already slaughtered the remaining thugs and hooligans that were previously under his own command. As soon as he finished, he walked over and knelt before Ultio with his head bent low.
"Good job..." Ultio trailed off, as he thought of a name for Burek's shadow. 'Ah, there we go!'
"Good job, Brute,"
Pleased with his naming skills, Ultio nodded with a satisfied smile, before leaping from the ground onto the back of the Wyvern's shadow. A second later, he was joined by Hermes and Brute, who immediately went on their knees.
"Rise, Hermes. You're a commander, so you should have some dignity before your subjects," Ultio said without turning to face the two who were behind him.
Hermes silently obeyed the order and saluted Ultio by placing his fist against his chest with his other arm folded behind him. "Thank you, Boss,"
"Don't mention it," Ultio replied offhandedly and shut his eyes as he basked in the cool, night wind that billowed against his body as the Wyvern lifted itself higher into the sky.
"Now, shall we deliver the materials to our tailor?"
*****
Far outside the walls of Nexus City, in a clearing hidden by countless trees stood a large, sophisticated forge. The forge's technological advancement was obvious from the lack of a chimney. This meant that either there was no fire being used within the forge, or that the forge used another source of heat.
Eric panted lightly as he arrived in front of the forge. After leaving Nexus City, he had sprinted all the way over to the forge, thinking that Ultio might have already been waiting for him. It was only after he arrived that he remembered that Ultio didn't even know where the forge was.
Either way, he wasn't worried, because he knew Ultio would find him sooner or later.
Not even a minute after he arrived, the large metal double doors of the forge swung open and a dwarf stood at the entrance of the forge with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Good day, Eric," The dwarf said in a smooth, calm voice, as opposed to the typical gruff, coarse voice expected of a dwarf. Even from the eloquent way he spoke, he seemed to be entirely different from the way dwarves were depicted in stories.
Furthermore, his dressing and stature were a direct contrast to such stories. He had a thick, brown beard that was neatly trimmed and kempt. His brown hair was neatly slicked back, with a long parting at the side.
He wore a neat white shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbow, as well as a black, double-breasted waist coat with gold embroidery designs, black pants and black shoes. His stature was quite lean, and he was tall for a dwarf, standing at almost five feet in height. And while most dwarves were seen as rough, barbaric craftsmen, he was more of a distinguished-looking gentleman with an old-world manner.
"Evening, Sir Jourgen," Eric said and tipped his hat as a respectful greeting.
Jourgen nodded and beckoned for him to follow him. "Come on in, Eric. Niðavellir has been awaiting your return,"
The two men entered the forge, leaving the darkness of the night behind.
"So what brings you here, Eric?" Jourgen asked as he took a seat on a chair made from a yellow coloured alloy– just like most of the other furniture in the forge.
Eric stared at the white, breathtaking walls and floor of the forge and seemed lost for a moment. But this wasn't his first time here, so he couldn't get carried away by the forge's beauty so easily. "A project I need to finish as quickly as possible,"
"Oh?" Jourgen asked curiously as he took a sip of mead from a finely crafted steel tankard, with beautiful patterns craved onto its side and handle.
"The customer says he'll get me an eye as payment for it,"
Jourgen chuckled and swished the contents of his cup around. "Who's eye?" He asked and drank lightly from his tankard.
"A god's,"
It took the grace of nine deities for Jourgen to stop himself from spitting out the mead he just drank.
"Pardon?"
"My words exactly," Eric said with a chuckle, before he took a seat in comfortable leather couch, which seemed out of place in the forge. But in the chair's defence, the forge seemed out of place in itself. It basically looked like a noble's living quarters, with its white walls, marble columns and extravagant furniture.
If it wasn't for the advanced tools lying around in odd places and on the countertops in the forge, one might mistake the forge for a penthouse suite.
"Intriguing. But are you sure this customer will be able to get this eye for you?" The dwarf asked curiously as he placed his tankard down on a small table. As soon as his cup touched it, the table suddenly came to life and began to 'walk' towards a cupboard, where Jourgen's dishes and cups were stored– presumably to clean and store the tankard.
Eric didn't even seem surprised by neither the walking table automation, nor Jourgen's question. Instead, he chuckled as something began to rise from his shadow. While he was surprised, he seemed to have figured out what it was.
"We're about to find out, Jourgen Hreidmar."