Now that Alex knew what his imdiate goal was – to further upgrade Virtue's Edge – he decided to inspect the sword's details one last ti before setting off to fulfil this goal.
[Virtue's Edge]
[C rank (Growth type)]
[A sword like no other. This blade was forged by Mikhail, a grandmaster swordsmith as his final work before he disappeared, never to be seen again. Forged in the heart of a Volcano, it is particularly fond of the fire elent.]
[F tier effect - When combined with the fire elent, the power produced with each slash will be doubled.]
[E tier effect - When wielded, the blade and its wielder gains a resistance to fire based attacks, reducing their damage by 40%. The sword will absorb residual fire energy and convert it into additional strength for the wielder's next strike.]
[D tier effect - The sword can unleash [Blazing Arc], sending a wave of searing fla outwards. The intensity and range of the Arc increase depending on the user's proficiency and perception, converting the usual lee attack into a long range attack. Current attack range. (25,000 kilotres)]
[C tier effect – Once per battle, the blade can enter a temporary state of Phoenix Rebirth, where it becos enveloped in roaring fas, increasing its power output by 10 fold for 10 seconds after the effect is activated. During this ti, all attacks perford by Virtue's Edge will ignite anything the wielder considers an enemy within their preceptory range.]
'Still C tier… Damn I almost feel bad for you…' Alex thought to himself as he gazed down at the sword in his hands.
He used to be behind the sword in terms of growth, now it turned out that he was ahead…
How the tables have turned!
'I rember Principal Farnes saying that I just need to use the sword and it will naturally increase in strength itself. But I've taken the liberty to kill dozens of powerful enemies over the past year, many of them being B tier, and even so A tiers! Yet why is the sword still only C tier?'
Alex could only muse inwardly at the pecularity he had found about his sword.
However, out of nowhere a strange sensation started filtering over to his mind. Emotions.
Like a distant echo of emotions that were not his own.
A whisper of longing, frustration, and… expectancy?
The feeling was vague, fleeting, yet persistent enough to make him stop in his tracks.
'Brontes?'
His first instinct was to glance over at Brontes, assuming that his bond with him was the source of the sudden wave of emotion.
The Aetherion had been growing stronger by the day, so it wouldn't be strange for their bond to evolve in unpredictable ways along with him. But when he turned back to glance at him, the massive beast simply gazed back at him with a curious tilt of his head, with his golden eyes gleaming with intelligence but showing no signs of being the source of the disturbance.
That was when he felt it again.
A pulse.
This ti, he distinctly noticed the sensation wasn't coming from Brontes.
It ca from below.
From his sword.
His gaze shot downward, eyes widening in shock as Virtue's Edge trembled in his hands, its blade vibrating in rhythmic spasms. Each ti it pulsed, another faint wave of emotion swept through his mind – more coherent now, more desperate.
'You…' Alex's breath hitched. 'You're trying to communicate with !?'
The sword's response was imdiate. Another pulse. Another sharp vibration. A clearer sense of affirmation settled into Alex's mind, as if the weapon was confirming his suspicions.
He had always known that Virtue's Edge was special.
A growth type weapon was practically the figurehead of special, after all. Capable of evolving alongside its wielder.
But he had no idea they could gain sentience – a mind of their own!
Alex took a deep breath, steadying himself.
'Alright,' he thought, directing his will toward the sword, 'If you can hear … show sothing. Tell what it is you need to grow stronger.'
The blade trembled again – harder this ti. A spark of crimson light flared across its length, and suddenly, Alex felt a strange pull on his mind, like an unseen force guiding his thoughts toward sothing.
His vision blurred montarily, and Alex acted against his instincts to stop it. His surroundings shifted as images – fragnts of mories that definitely weren't his own – flashing before his eyes.
A raging volcano. Blinding heat. A hamr striking tal, over and over again. A figure, face obscured, ret radiating an imnse presence as they poured their very essence into the sword's creation. But the most shocking part was yet to co.
The figure paused the hamring, turning to face Alex.
It had no face, but it was definitely human – or at least humanoid.
Apart from the lack of a face it was indistinguishable from the average Awakened's physique he had seen many tis before.
But despite not having a mouth to voice its thoughts, Alex still heard a voice speak to him loud and clear, coming from the faceless figure in front of him.
"Find the forge. Complete the sword."
It directed its gaze towards the sword in Alex's hands, before turning back around to continue the mindless, monotonous hamring like nothing had just happened.
Alex staggered back, nearly dropping Virtue's Edge as reality snapped back into place. His breathing was ragged, and his pulse pounded in his ears like war drums.
'Find the forge…?'
He didn't understand everything he had just seen, only being able to understand the latter part of what it said.
From the way it directed its gaze towards Virtue's Edge, he knew that it was the sword in question.
But this only sprung even more questions up in his mind.
'Complete the sword? Does that an Virtue's Edge is an unfinished weapon? But how if it's already so powerful!'
The prospect of such a thing baffled him.
But his mind started to piece things together.
'Find the forge… This is probably a clue to help figure out how to complete it.'
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