The Metal World is Rusted. Long live the Empire of Blades! Glory to the Wall Emperor! In the aftermath of the Sin King's demonic rampage, the Emperor extends salvation through the Word System and a living wall. Why bother crafting when basic items evolve into powerful Almats? Wielders master anything, sharing power for loyal companions. Want a sword? Time to cultivate a dagger. And who doesn't want a talking, fire-breathing hat? But survival in this world is harsh for young Helion Dasim, where [Rust] in his core means death. As he struggles to control the force that wiped out old humanity, the Silent Inquisition and the Heretics loom. Almats decay and disintegrate by his touch while inside him, a dark power grows, and a voice calls, distinct from the Emperor's. Will Helion withstand the looming threats, or succumb to a rebellion that echoes within? The Metal World may be Rusted, but Helion's will is stronger than steel.

M-F 1500+ words chapters for now, but I'll probably switch to 3 or 4 per week later.

Inspired by works of dark fantasy like Warhammer 40k, Attack on Titan, Elden Ring and the Dark Tower. Also a good amount of Digimon for some reason. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do writing it.

My intention is for this to be a long series, so I'll keep writing as long as there is enough people interested in knowing where the story goes.

English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes I make, I'll try to fix them as soon as I find them. Thank you for reading! And if I couldn't peak your interest, thank you for reading up to this point!

*The system in this story has numbers and other progression elements, but they don't show up in the early chapters as much.

**The protagonist is pretty young, in his mid-teens for a long stretch of the planned story, but this is a story intended for adults and young adults.