I did not say these words lightly, as I felt the weight of them settle into my chest. I had not just copied the Inscriptions to the ground; this act had made me understand them.
The structure, of it was fascinating, as well as their purpose, before now, I knew only the basic Inscriptions for the elements, and the three specialized scripts of Containment, Link, and Trigger, but now I was learning so many new specialized scripts outside of the basic three, and I could not help but think that I was learning the language of order itself, as the Hollow Avatar had said.
The fox’s eyes lit up. "Speak to them? Like... talk to the armor?"
I stroked my chin. "Well, with these Inscriptions here," I pointed to some of them I etched on the ground, "It is not about talking, more like a command. I believe the creator of these scripts does not see free will as important."
"Oh, so what can you do with this?"
I smiled, "The Hollow Avatar tells me that Inscriptions are a language, and that is a very important distinction. You see, as mages, we treat Inscriptions as a discipline, even if we call it the language of magic, it is just a throwaway word... but we are scratching the surface of this, I think, and I am learning how to read it, even as I learn how to write it."
I looked at the glowing breastplate and the patterns I had traced into the floor, then looked at the resonance that pulsed between them.
It was almost as if the ground had become an armor, waiting for me to command it. Following instincts from the growth I had gained in Inscription, I gestured towards the Inscription on the ground, and it flowed into the pieces of armor I had laid across the ground.
This effect came from one of the specialized scripts I had learned from the armor, Flow. This script was one of the most important specialized scripts I had learned, as it was able to transfer the Inscriptions I carved into a ready receptacle if they were brought close together.
It meant that I would be able to carve different Inscriptions and perhaps place them in a storage, and if I saw a suitable place for it, I could transfer the Inscription.
Inscriptions were powerful, but the disadvantage was the time it takes you to etch them when you need to, but with Flow, I should be able to prepare my Inscription before hand.
Although there were still certain restrictions to the Flow script, since I had no means to store these Inscriptions, and Flow could only work within a certain distance. Maybe if I could find a Storage script, then I would be able to ease this disadvantage.
The fox made sounds of wonder as the light from the Inscription I carved filled up the armor, and I could sense the foreign essence inside the armor being pushed out of it.
There was no hindrance to this process because the Inscription etched on this armor had been done so long ago that the Anima of its creator had vanished, and only the essence inside the Containment scripts in the armor was keeping the Inscription alive.
In a few seconds, every single Inscription I had etched on the ground had flowed into the armor, and I was able to immediately sense that my Inscriptions were subpar in comparison to the Inscription inside the armor.
Still, due to the potency of my Anima, I had been able to push out all the essence inside the armor, which was mostly Darkness Essence.
I reached out and touched the breastplate, and the Inscriptions on its surface flared, and I felt the connection snap into place. I could feel the armor’s purpose and its hunger for orders. All of these were born from the Inscriptions carved into it.
"Stand," I said.
The breastplate rose from the floor, hovering in the air, its Inscriptions pulsing with light. The pauldrons followed, then the gauntlets, then the greaves. The pieces assembled themselves, clicking into place, forming the shape of a knight.
I took a step back, and the armor lightly touched the ground and stood before me. I had cut through it without damaging its structural stability, and it was almost perfect.
The fox’s eyes went wide. "Elric... what did you do?"
"I commanded it." I looked at my hands and gestured towards the armor. "The Inscription within would follow my orders, although they are simple: stand, fight, defend... the beauty of it comes from the interaction that emerges when they are all connected and working together... this is beautiful."
The armor took a step forward at my gesture. Its movements were clumsy, like a child learning to walk.
"Interesting," I said. "I think I see the reason why an undead was placed inside of it... the Inscriptions cannot hold the weight of the armor while moving effectively; it needs something to serve as the foundation. I think this problem could be solved with mechanical reinforcement inside of it... But knowing the Conclave, I would wager they chose to use people because they were cheaper."
"Oh, these people are messed up, Elric. We have to stop them... but you can command the knights now?" The fox’s voice was a mix of awe and disbelief.
"I can command this one. The others, I need to..." I turned around and stared at the body of the knight that I had disabled, glimpsing the chip that glowed faintly in her skull. "The reason all of these knights can be controlled must be due to these chips in their skulls; it must be a network that can allow a user to link to all the Inscriptions inside the armor."
"Pah... Pah... Pah... Pah..."
The sound of clapping by my side almost made me freeze in place, before I slowly turned my head, and I saw the Sovereign leaning against the vat that I had escaped from, his wispy hair was highlighted by the light of the vat, and for a moment, he looked like what I imagined a divine being would... if they were old, balding, and had a creepy smile on their face.
I stood up, lightning bursting out of my body, and the fox jumped on my shoulder, baring her teeth at the Sovereign.
"Remarkable, truly remarkable," the Sovereign said, "But you made a slight mistake about the control mechanisms for the knight, which, to be fair, is not a mistake, since you are hindered by your realm and do not know the true power of laws... You see the Darkness Essence you just purged out of the armor... that is what alerted me to your escape; well, it is the true medium of control. However, that is not the point..."
He gestured towards me, "Who are you talking to when you look around you? At first, I thought you were insane, which would not be a surprise, but you are not insane... are you?"