I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1347: Tideturner

The weapon curled out of the darkness like ink stirred through water.

Northern watched Sael’s face as the bow materialized fully, coiling into itself before settling into shape. Its limbs were not carved wood or shaped metal but living architecture: eight sinuous tentacle-forms of deep navy and gunmetal blue, intertwining and spiraling around each other like frozen currents caught mid-dance. Each tendril gleamed with an oily iridescence, shifting between midnight and burnished silver depending on how the light caught it.

The central grip featured a diamond-shaped eye motif carved from polished kirithon cartilage, housing a pale, milky lens that seemed to watch. An unsettling remnant of the Apex Maelstrom’s gaze, repurposed into something new.

But the most striking feature was the triple bowstrings, woven from bioluminescent jellyfish nerves. They glowed with a soft, ethereal blue light and were connected at intervals by small crystallized nodes: hardened venom drops that acted as essence conduits. Northern knew that when an arrow was nocked, those nodes would flare in sequence like a countdown.

The tentacle limbs curled into elegant spirals at each tip, giving the weapon an almost ceremonial appearance. Beautiful enough to display. Deadly enough to end wars.

Northern had always harbored ambitions of becoming a forger, which meant he’d never neglected the importance of materials. When he’d lost access to his soul plane, he’d feared all the carcasses his soul summons had gathered at the academy dungeon would be gone forever. But when he’d finally regained it, most of them had remained intact. Waiting for him.

This bow was what that patience had purchased.

He handed it to Sael before he could second-guess himself.

"Here." His voice came out more casual than he felt. "I made this in a hurry. Check it out and tell me what you think."

As Sael received the bow, something shifted in the archer’s expression. A subtle widening of the eyes, a catch in his breath. Northern recognized the signs: the man had heard the system voice. The item had registered.

"An... Item?" Sael’s voice cracked slightly. "You can create an item?"

Northern smiled, though the expression felt fragile on his face. "I’m glad it worked. Have you checked it?"

He almost sounded anxious. He was anxious.

’Is this how cooks feel?’

The thought surfaced unbidden. It was hard to suppress the worry that came with waiting to see if something you’d created would satisfy. Would it meet expectations? Would it disappoint? A veteran cook might have overcome such anxiety through years of consistent praise, the accumulated confidence of countless successful meals. Their skill had been tested so many times that doubt no longer had purchase.

’I’m not a veteran forger. I’ve barely been one for six months.’

It was easy to forget, even for Northern himself, that he’d only learned blacksmithing recently. That he’d dreamt about creating an item a mere four months ago, treating it as some distant ambition rather than an imminent reality.

And yet here he was. Watching Sael’s face for judgment.

The Arrow Sage’s expression kept shifting, widening, cycling through emotions Northern couldn’t quite parse. Was that amazement? Disappointment? The longer it went on, the more Northern’s stomach tightened.

’There’s no way he’ll be disappointed.’

’Right?’

Sael finally looked up from the bow, meeting Northern’s eyes. He shook his head slowly, and when he spoke, his voice threatened to break.

"I... I can’t accept this."

Northern frowned. "Why? It’s not perfect?"

Sael stepped back, staring at him with naked incredulity.

"Not perfect?" His expression shifted into something almost reproachful. "Lord Northern, this is the most terrifying, most amazing item I have ever laid eyes on in all my years as a Drifter." His voice rose. "How did you even make this?"

The question tumbled out before Sael could stop himself, and then more followed, the words coming faster, breathless with disbelief.

"The arrows can ignite explosions or flash freeze targets? I can choose the void option that creates a dead zone, suppressing healing and weakening magical defense? And the Radiant Surge ability..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "It complements my talent so well. The bow itself complements my talent so well. I can increase the size of my arrow tenfold and magnify its impact in the same manner, as far as my essence can afford?"

Sael paused, almost choking on his own excitement. His face had shifted into an expression Northern had never expected to see from someone of his caliber. Not in the short time they’d known each other.

Northern felt something loosen in his chest. The smile that spread across his face was genuine now.

"Essentially, it has three active abilities and four passive abilities, making it an order seven item." His smile darkened with satisfaction. "I tried to push it past seven orders, but that proved practically impossible through normal means. So I found another way."

Sael’s eyes narrowed slightly. He inspected the bow again, a faint suspicion forming.

"Do you see the weapon trait?" Northern continued. "It functions like another ability. I just sneaked it in there to deceive the universal system Ul created." He couldn’t quite keep the pride from his voice. "Once a day, if you hit a target and it survives, it becomes marked. You can track their location regardless of where they are. Even stealth won’t save them."

Sael checked the bow’s information again, confirming what Northern had described. When he looked up, he shook his head in fresh disbelief.

"No. No, I really can’t accept this." His voice had grown strained. "It’s too much. A Heroic item of this caliber... how can I possibly..."

"Just take it."

Northern exhaled, letting some of the tension drain from his shoulders. "It’s probably the most inferior thing I’m ever going to create anyway. I made it because I promised you something along those lines." He shrugged. "And it was truly no loss. I gained experience from the process. Thanks to you, I was able to study the form of a bow and learn to craft one properly. Consider this repayment for help you had no idea you provided."

Sael stared down at the weapon in his hands. His eyes still struggled to accept what they were seeing.

Then, quietly, he spoke its name.

"Tideturner."

Northern nodded, satisfaction settling into his bones. He turned toward the distant gate, visible only as a suggestion of light through the trees.

"Do you want to try firing it?"

Sael blinked at him. "To where?"

"The gate, of course." Northern’s tone was casual, but the weight behind his words was not. "You’ll be joining the battle there. I want you to turn the tide of whatever fight you enter, starting from this one."

Sael’s expression flickered with concern. "Won’t I hit allies?"

"Hell no." Northern shook his head. "The passive effect, Kirithon’s Focus, helps you lock in. Your vision can cut through distance and reach the target directly. Should cover about a kilometer. And you have other abilities to complement it, along with your own talent abilities." He raised an eyebrow. "Don’t you have a homing ability?"

Sael nodded, hesitating only slightly. "I do."

"Then what are you scared of?" Northern jerked his chin toward the forest. "Come on. Fire the damn thing."

He turned toward the western tree line, toward the distant gate.

Meanwhile, Judgment stood off to the side, watching the entire exchange with an expression of puzzled amusement.

Sael exhaled. He drew both strings of the bow simultaneously, and a glowing light began to swirl and coalesce at the nock, spiraling around the central eye.

His own eyes blazed with sudden light. Distance collapsed before him.

Across the vast stretch of forest, he could see them clearly now: figures in black and red armor, covered by a strange, almost invisible aegis. Two of them held a gigantic siege bow between them, and a third stood at its center, nocking a black rod twice his own height onto the string. Despite the weapon’s enormous size, he drew it back with terrible strength.

A cold, delirious smile spread across Sael’s face.

He pulled Tideturner’s string taut.

And released.

The arrow of light sang. It tore across the mountainside with a speed that ripped the air apart, trailing terrible torrents of wind in its wake. Sael staggered back from the shockwave that exploded from his grip, his feet sliding against the ground.

For a moment, his eyes stayed wide.

He had never felt so much power from simply shooting an arrow. The recoil alone had nearly knocked him off his feet, and the projectile had crossed a distance that should have taken seconds in what felt like a heartbeat.

This bow was a tyrannical creation.

It was magnificent.