B3 Chapter 347: Entrance, Finale

Kaius eyed his reborn blade with a mixture of trepidation. The changes that had been wrought upon it were marvelous — beyond all he could have imagined — but the cost to advance it further was just as weighty.

An Epic material of the second tier — how in all of the forsaken hells was he supposed to manage that?! Even the Wyvern Bone that had been set aside for him was a stroke of luck, and that was only in the first tier!

He couldn’t exactly go dragon hunting — even for a lesser one like a wyvern. A fully grown dragon was a fight of legends! Whole battalions of high-tiered fighters had fallen before them. Even with his strength and ability, he doubted it would be enough.

Plus, who knew if it only needed one!

If that wasn’t enough, he barely knew a shred of how to even develop his sword to the point that it could even accept additional material. Xenanra had hinted that it was as simple as using it as he should, but in the same breath had mentioned his experience would be more demanding than normal.

What did that even mean? Years of battle? More?

Kaius sighed, sliding his sword home into its scabbard — a linked set as they were, it too had shifted to accommodate the change in size.

He knew too little about growth weapons in general; they weren’t exactly common enough to make for easy researching, and no doubt any other users kept the secrets of their development closely guarded.

If Father had still been here, he would have had a million questions. As it was, he only had a god — which was just about the next best thing.

“How am I even supposed to find an Epic material — and what do you mean by using my blade for its purpose?” he asked.

Lounging comfortably on her divan, the ascendant floated closer towards him with casual ease — stopping at eye level a couple of strides away.

“Growth weapons are rather fascinating — they are almost alive, at this stage at least, and exist in a dependent symbiosis with their bearer. Without the stabilisation of a true soul, the stresses of growth and change are harrowing. They need to settle — grow sturdy and ironclad in their new forms, through simple use, care, and acquiring feats worthy of their station.”

The ascendant paused for a moment, idly stroking a groove in the filigree of her seat with a single finger.

“If I was to put it simply — you need to use it, and grow its legend. Imagine they need experience to reach the end of their tier, before they’re ready to evolve like you would. It’s an imperfect analogy, since it’s not actually experience — it needs to wear a groove in reality, and collect feats in a similar manner that such things would impact your future classes.”

Kaius looked down at the hilt of his blade. Huh. It seemed reasonable — and now that it had been mentioned, there was a faint presence he could feel leeching across his link with his sword. It was nascent — almost foreign, and a rather strange sensation. Not alive, nor aware — but almost. A half life, brushing up against his own for warmth.

If what Xenandra said was true, he couldn’t really see himself having too many issues with that part of the process. He loved melee combat, and it wasn’t like he’d been running into a sudden lack of challenging or notable battles recently.

Still…she’d mentioned it was similar to experience. Would it really only help the blade ready itself for the next advancement, or was there more to it?

“Will it make it stronger? Empower it at all?” he asked.

The ascendant shook her head quickly — much to Kaius’s disappointment.

“No — that is another failing of the metaphor. It is a growth of spiritual weight, not leverageable power. At most, you’ll feel supernaturally comfortable wielding it as an extension of yourself — but not overly so. It’s a complicated thing that is difficult for me to fully explain. It brushes too close on tenants of this very trial — at the very least, know that after you experience the Crucible, you will grasp the crux of the process.”

Kaius watched the ascendant closely — looking for any sign that she would let slip more. Gods’ scorn, what could she mean by that? How could the two be tied together? It wasn’t like having a growth item was a requirement — that would be ridiculous!

Unfortunately, the ascendant was unreadable — only giving him a sly wink before she blatantly changed the subject.

“As for finding the required materials? Yes, it will be difficult — but by no means impossible for someone like you. Sufficient Guardian rewards at a deep enough layer are the obvious, boring and slow answer. Hunting dragons and similar greater beasts with such close ties to mana is the quick, dirty, and dangerous one. But, they are not the only options. There is at least one other major challenge you will likely encounter on your current course — if you play your cards right, it will give you what you need.”

Kaius froze, narrowing his eyes as he honed in on the way she had stressed ‘challenge’. The ascendant’s expression was frozen in a knowing smile — adamantly refusing to expand more, despite his obvious interest.

Likely couldn’t expand more, he realised with a start. She’d already mentioned several times she was bound to multiple rules, both similar and different to the ones he assumed Ekum operated on as a ‘Watcher’. If directly explaining exactly what the challenge was violated her duties, it made it all too easy to infer.

After all, beyond Crucibles and Guardians, there was only one major challenge he could think of. One that had also come with the phase change.

Tyrants — though he still knew nothing of what they were, other than monsters of great and terrible power.

A goal then; a worthy hunt, if it would let him advance his blade that much sooner.

Xenanra winked — drawing a wide grin out of him.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Why don’t you watch your team? Their own transitions are about to get interesting.”

Under the ascendant’s urging, Kaius sat on the hard obsidian floor, watching his friends with his chin propped up on one hand.

All three of them were quiet and still, as if they were sleeping peacefully. To his manasight, it was a completely different story. They burned with energy — each suffused with a different mix of affinities and elements surging through them in a roaring torrent.

It was clearly not the main effect of whatever transformation was ongoing within them — it seemed too chaotic and undirected. More like the natural energy of the world was flowing behind something else: something invisible to his sight, that caused mana to stir and boil.

What he would have given for Kenva’s ability to see souls and energy flows at a close distance. Whatever was happening had to be fascinating.

Even Porkchop was hard to read. Their bond was opaque and clouded — shut off from him by the System’s will, as it always was during such moments of change. Still, even through that veil, he could feel his brother’s soul undergoing a purification and metamorphosis. Less a change, and more of a distillation or restructuring of what was already present.

The storm of mana within his friends began to taper.

Porkchop rose to wakefulness first, stretching out before he pushed himself up.

“Huh. That was weird — I see why they call it soap, I feel like I’ve been scrubbed raw.” he said, shaking his head.

Kaius smiled, hurrying over to his brother’s side.

“What happened? It wasn’t too uncomfortable, I hope?”

“Uncomfortable, yes — but not painful. Something deep was…refined, I suppose. Not really purified, but my soul feels less rigid? More flexible? It’s hard to explain.”