I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 623: Everythings!
THE Old Man made it clear he didn’t have much to share, but as someone who had been here for who knew how many years, how could he not have lots of information? Isolation didn’t mean ignorance. Someone who had spent eons crafting weapons capable of killing THE entities while cultivating their Way to Intermediate Depth had to have accumulated knowledge alongside their skill.
So Achilles remained where he was and smiled as he asked a question designed to open doors that polite conversation alone could not.
"You’ve made so many weapons over the years. Each one capable of crushing or cutting THE Surface Depth entities."
He gestured toward the arsenal arranged near the forge with appreciation that was entirely genuine.
"Do you have any for Intermediate Depth entities? If I wanted to purchase from you en masse, what currency do you want for exchange?"
...!
THE Old Man looked at Achilles up and down as if he were a fool who had asked what color the sky was. His weathered features shifted into expression of mild exasperation as he shook his head with the patience of someone accustomed to explaining obvious things to those who should already understand.
"Everythings are the only currency that matters. Everythings."
Everythings.
Seeing Achilles tilt his head, THE Old Man sighed with resignation.
"Everythings are fundamental units or constructs that represent concentrated aspects of Existence, authority, or power."
His voice took on the cadence of a teacher addressing a student who was at least willing to learn.
"They function as building blocks that can be transferred, consumed, or utilized to elevate beings to higher classifications. Entities have Everythings of their emotions, their limits, their Existence itself. Very few understand and can take advantage of or utilize their Everythings externally."
He pointed toward his forge with gesture that encompassed his entire operation.
"The only thing from you that I would want would be your units of Everythings of your Civilization. But you may not even be able to give it." His golden eyes studied Achilles with assessment that went beyond casual observation.
"It would be helpful to me because it would increase my Depth, and if you care for my weapons, you can have as many as you want if you give enough Everythings."
The words of THE Old Man were unique, and they opened up Achilles’s mind as he wondered for a moment about the implications.
Everythings.
Based on what this old man had said, the closest connection he could make was how he had been giving his Depth to Rose and others. He had such a heavy concentration of it after Assimilating so many existences, enough that sharing portions with his lineage had cost him nothing meaningful while elevating them to THE distinction.
And with it being so dense and pure due to his Way of Assimilation, would it actually be something valuable that he could use to obtain even more things and information?
Because if he could Assimilate artifacts that had power to decimate Surface Depth entities and Intermediate Depth entities, and if he could pay their relatively low cost for them, he would make a lot more than he would lose. The weapons themselves would become part of his foundation once consumed, their crafted authority adding to his already ridiculous weight.
At this moment, he tried it.
For others, it might be hard to actualize their Everythings, to externalize what was fundamentally internal. But he Assimilated existences daily as naturally as breathing. He had a very clear understanding of Depth and how it functioned, how it could be moved and shaped and directed according to his will.
Achilles moved his fingers with precision that came from intimate familiarity with his own foundations.
In the next moment, he began to form small colorless singularities of his heavy Depth around his hands. Each one contained barely decimal fractions of fractions of his power, slivers so small that he would never notice their absence from his accumulated weight.
But because of his ridiculous foundation that was built from so many powerful Surface Depth existences, because of the Intermediate Depth authority he had just consumed from THE Fastest Blade, even these tiny portions of his Assimilated authority felt unfathomably grand and heavy.
The surrounding environment began to vibrate with immensity that it struggled to contain.
The golden waters of Abzu rippled outward from his platform in patterns that suggested reality itself was adjusting to the presence of concentrated Everythings that exceeded what this region typically experienced. The air grew thick with weight that pressed against everything nearby, including THE Old Man whose casual demeanor evaporated instantly.
He rose from his seated position with speed that belied his weathered appearance, his golden eyes widening as he observed the dozens of colorless singularities moving around Achilles. And even more were beginning to appear as Achilles continued externalizing fractions of his foundation with casual ease.
"These are Everythings of Foundation!"
THE Old Man’s voice cracked with shock that shattered his centuries of cultivated composure.
"You would give away something so rare?!"
His hands reached out as if to touch the singularities before stopping himself, professional caution warring with desperate hunger.
"And it is so dense and pure?!"
He looked utterly shocked, his earlier dismissiveness replaced by naked avarice that he made no attempt to conceal. These weren’t ordinary Everythings, not the thin and diluted currency that most entities could barely produce. These were Everythings refined through consumption of THE entities, concentrated through a Way that specialized in taking and integrating, purified through foundations that exceeded what Intermediate Depth should possess.
Achilles looked at him calmly while internally he was smiling with satisfaction.
Because what he was currently displaying was simply his Assimilated Depth that represented less than a decimal percentage of the entirety of what he had consumed from THE Fastest Blade alone. The many Malformed Collapsed Existences from The Blind Depths added even more weight that he could convert into Everythings without meaningful loss.
He was a fountain that could produce currency others would kill for, and it cost him almost nothing to do so.
So he looked at THE Old Man with an expression of friendly negotiation.
"I really would like information, and the products of your Way of Blacksmithing."
"I know that for the right price, anything is possible."
He didn’t even finish his words before the transformation occurred.
THE Old Man appeared directly in front of Achilles with speed that his earlier casual movements had concealed he possessed. His weathered features had shifted into brilliant smile that made him look decades younger, his golden eyes sparkling with warmth that hadn’t been there moments before.
He clasped Achilles’s hands with grip that suggested they had known each other for centuries rather than minutes.
"What is sharing stories and items between friends?"
His voice had become jovial, welcoming, eager in ways that the dismissive hermit of moments ago would have found beneath his dignity.
"Come, come, Brother Adrastia!"
He gestured toward his forge and the weapons surrounding it with expansive hospitality.
"Your Brother Lobo here has much to share. Much indeed!"
...!
Some things remained constant regardless of the Scale of Existence one operated at.
Everyone had their price.
