Chapter 150: Training II.
Vermyx let out a long sigh, trying to restrain himself.
"Fine, all right, I don't know that."
Takeshi was unwilling to accept this.
"Huh? How can you not know? I convinced you until my mouth was dry, and now you say you don't know? You think I believe that?"
Vermyx seemed to not want to help; he crossed his arms.
"There are things even I don't know; I have never used the earth element, so how would I know?"
Takeshi felt it was a waste of time and decided to leave and think for himself.
-"Let's see, for now, I'll just pull up the types I can retrieve and think for myself."
-"But there are probably many, so Mythyr must have pulled up a lot of those compounds beforehand, then left them underground within the range she could retrieve, then gathered them later."
-"As for why she didn't do it in advance, I'm stumped."
Afterward, Takeshi brought up to the surface many types of compounds or metalloids, not metal ores.
-"Is this quartz? All these raw metal blocks are so strange, I don't know anymore."
…
Quite far from the forest, Kazuka was training with Ayaka. They stayed far away from the residence to avoid absorbing energy there, and also to avoid being detected.
Though during the battle with that young dragon, Ayaka had fired quite few arrows; despite the great threat, not many hit, and everyone else had already drawn its attention. Not to mention penetrating that layer of dragon scales was quite difficult, and there was energy involved too.
But that was just a dragon; fighting humans was different. She did not need to spend too much time concentrating a lot of energy into a single shot, so she was still quite strong when fighting someone.
Especially since she no longer needed to stand far away in hiding. She could fire many arrows at the same time, which made it very difficult for Kazuka to close in. Every time he slashed through a few arrows, another wave flew toward him from behind. Thus, she was no different from a melee fighter.
Her hand had only just released the bowstring before pulling again. The bow glowed continuously because of the consecutive firing of energy arrows. The rain of arrows was indeed very annoying for a melee fighter when unable to close in, only able to defend against the rain of arrows before the distance was gradually widened. And the wider the distance, the more advantage Ayaka had.
…
Aoto and Elyssia were training together; Aoto flew in the sky, but Elyssia only stayed below and attacked upward; only if she lost her advantage would she unfurl her wings.
Wings were the weak point of Angels, so Elyssia did not want to use them, even though this was practice, and despite having the ability to hide the wings; however, when flying, she still needed to unfurl them, so she did not use them.
The day before, Ayaka had practiced with Aoto; she shot her bow. Thus, Aoto could practice dodging to get used to his wings more and learn how to move as flexibly as possible.
But Kazuka also wanted to practice with Ayaka; last time Kazuka fought Mythyr, his reflexes could not keep up with the metal spikes Mythyr launched. Although he could dodge once, that was because they were very high in the sky and far beyond the firing range, which allowed him to evade. But within the range he usually fought in, he could not dodge, so he wanted to practice more on reflexes.
…
As for Airi, she had just absorbed energy into her body and then pushed it out; after training for a long time, she was only now resting. Her whole body was drenched in sweat; her pale pink hair, which seemed almost white, was matted with sweat as she repeatedly caught her breath.
In her hand, she held her sword, the Blood Night Sword. She had accidentally encountered this sword and been recognized as its master since childhood; she had lost nothing. It was an ancient sword left behind by the Progenitor Vampire, and no one had obtained it after the Progenitor Vampire died in a war during the Era of Chaos—the Era of Chaos was the period before the Unification, a time of continuous war.
This sword was kept by a human kingdom and hung in their palace. Coincidentally, during a meeting where the races gathered, representatives of the Vampire race saw it; after negotiations, the sword was brought back. But once brought back, no one could hold it; once grasped, it felt as if the blood in the entire body boiled and turned scalding hot as if being cooked, so they had to give up.
The entire blade bore a dark red color like clotted blood, occasionally flashing with a gloomy light like garnets at the bottom of a deep abyss.
The blade was slender, sharp, and straight—not broad—but each cutting edge was forged into tiny serrations like fishhooks, causing any slash to tear flesh apart and make it difficult to heal. Along the spine of the sword was a thin, winding groove, like a blood vessel running through, and in quiet moments, a "patter" sound could be heard, like blood dripping drop by drop in a dead person's heart.
The surface of the blade was carved with ancient Vampire scripts, a type of winding writing that flickered or shifted as if alive, impossible to read with the naked eye. Every time the sword absorbed energy, those characters glowed for a moment before sinking back into darkness.
The intersection between the blade and the hilt was a glowing red eye—not a gemstone, but a real eye, blinking slightly according to each emotion of the owner.
The hilt was made of grayish-white bone, cold as ice, carved in the shape of four fingers gripping backward onto the handle, as if a monster's arm was tightly holding the user.
That was the shape of the sword.
Gazing at the sword for a moment, she looked at the tightly closed eye of the sword; currently, there were no signs at all. She remembered the time this sword radiated energy to protect her when she was attacked by that young dragon.
-"Hmm... This sword will protect its master? I feel it's not like before somehow, it's hard to say."
-"Does this sword seem to use up all its energy and then go to sleep? When it radiated energy to protect me, I didn't feel a bit of my own energy being drained; it seems true that it absorbs energy on its own."
-"But why hasn't it been seen absorbing since after the battle? Or is that not it, maybe it's just simply closing its eye."
-"Surely not, it radiated energy after all; that wasn't my energy, and it has this eye as if it has life."
Frowning slightly while observing the sword, she tried to analyze something useful.
-"Absorb energy?"
The sword still showed no movement.
-"Since I've used it, indeed, I've never seen it absorb energy."
-"Absorb energy."
Suddenly, the sword glowed a red so bright it was blinding; Airi was startled and threw the sword away. The sword on the ground was glowing; the surrounding grass and trees trembled.
Black energy was being absorbed by the sword; the sword was like a center sucking energy in like a hole in a lake.
-"It really is absorbing energy? Do I have to urge it?"
Her hair and clothes were also blown about by the wind from the sword's suction. She observed the surroundings, feeling something was wrong as the plants were losing their green hue—naturally due to the sword.
-"Oh no, this isn't good. Stop, quickly."
The sword that was absorbing energy suddenly stopped; the grass, trees, and flowers returned to a still state with no further impact.
Airi frowned; she was quite curious. Walking back to the sword and picking it up, the glowing red light was fading. But the eye was open—the eye on the sword was red with quite strange lines.
-"It's open? So it's back? I feel kind of excited, like it's quite familiar."
-"Hmm... it's so similar to the first time I used the sword. No, this feeling is even better; it seems the first time I used the sword, the energy inside it was nearly exhausted, and after much use, it ran out. But now that I have it absorbing energy, it's like this, as if it has life again."
There were still many things about this sword that she did not know.
1: Blood Hell
Summons a dark space of blood, slowing enemies and causing them to lose control of their will.
**2: Blood Reaction**
When the master is killed, the sword will "retain the rage." Energy from the sword is transmitted back into the master's body, allowing the body to move, though in reality, they are dead.
At that moment, an attack is unleashed. It is exactly all the attacks that the enemy previously used against the master of the sword.
And that attack will certainly hit.
(Except if blocked by a type of super-barrier, or sealed by some type of seal, and a few other forms....)
**3: Mimicry**
When hit by an attack without dying, the sword will copy the previous attack and counter.
**4: Protection**
The sword overflows with energy to the outside and protects the master.
**5: Super Protection**
If the master does not use energy to protect themselves in time, the sword will automatically overflow with energy and protect the master, and heal wounds.
**6: Indestructibility**
A sword with extremely high durability. If destroyed, as long as there is the master's blood, it will immediately recover.
**7: Will**
If the master hesitates or falls into weak emotions, the sword will help the master overcome them more easily.
**8: Poison Resistance**
The sword helps its master resist almost all types of poison in the world.
Except: Ice Silkworm, Steel Centipede, Black Snake....
**9: Burden Reduction**
When launching an attack, the sword will help the master control energy more easily.
When launching an attack, the sword will use its own energy and help make the master's attack more powerful.
**10: Consciousness**
The sword has consciousness and absorbs external energy, not the master's energy. But if the master wishes, it can also absorb the master's energy.
When the sword reaches a certain level, it can converse and transform into a human form, but needs the master's permission.
Airi only knew about the 3rd, 4th, and 5th points. The 5th point she had only just found out. This information actually exists in books, but the books disappeared long ago; they probably lie in some corner of the Vampire race's library.
Previously when facing Maia, she had copied and used her own energy, then returned the attack that Maia had once unleashed but even stronger.
Airi tried using the sword; she entered a stance and swung. An energy slash was unleashed and flew straight at a tree. The energy slash was quite small because she restrained it; the slash just like that sliced through the tree.
She stood still and looked at the sword.
-"Indeed it is so, no matter how many times I use it. Now I am certain that this sword makes my slashes stronger."