The dragon slept fitfully over the next few days, trying and failing to heal. Sometimes, it would rub hard against the walls of the dingy cavern, trying to knock the sword free. Sometimes, it even managed to almost succeed, too. Mostly, it would just lay there, yowling in pain or patiently digesting. The blade drained the heat from its body one pulse of its giant heart at a time.
The blade didn’t care. It simply stayed full, pondering the riddle of its existence. Its need to devour Life Force had not gone away, but its host was strong, and its situation was unique.
So, whenever it felt the thing’s massive heartbeat start to flutter, it left its reservoir full for a day or two to allow it to recover. The only thing it cared about was when the giant, fiery beast moved toward the entrance of its cavern and attempted to fly away.
The last thing that the Ebon Blade wanted was for this thing to leap from this rocky crag and dash itself on the rocks below. It might have been a sixty-foot-long lizard from snout to tail, but it wasn’t half so strong as it had been the night it had fought its previous wielder.
So, as soon as it had thoughts of leaving, the blade would choose another expensive upgrade and start draining again to discourage the beast. The first two times, it chose Improved Siphon. Spending 500 for Improved Siphon 5 was an easy decision. It had wanted that upgrade for ages. Improved Siphon 6 was a harder choice, but only because a thousand was an awful lot of Life Force that the beast would need to replenish.
Improved Siphon 5: It is enough simply to touch small animals now to drain them completely. Increase the Life Force drained per blow from 7 to 15.
Improved Siphon 6: A horse or even a goblin might be drained completely by the smallest blow. Increase the Life Force drained per blow from 10 to 20.
As it took each upgrade, it felt its blade lengthen both times. Even if it couldn’t see it, it also felt the runes that ran along the length of its blade shift and squirm to accommodate the changes. Ever time it selected an upgrade, its form was slightly restored. It was growing in power, as well as in size, and was more of a hand and a half bastard sword than a proper long sword for a weakling like Ren.
That restoration didn’t matter, to it, not right now. In the end, all it cared about was power. Well, that, and keeping the dragon pinned in place like a rabbit in a snare. Increasing its drain let it do that, that much faster.
The numbers were flying now. At times, they moved too fast for it to keep track of them.
Those upgrades also both unlocked new branching options for it to study. This was not a complete surprise, and yet, it still interested the blade because it was given no prior warning ahead of time that such a thing might be a possibility. Increasing its ability to Improved Siphon 5 gave it the option of Parasitic Link, and the following day, when it increased the ability again to Improved Siphon 6, it gained access to Aura of Hunger.
Parasitic Link: 100 Life Force. Why bear the cost for your existence when your wielder could do that for you? This ability prevents you from falling to zero as long as you are wielded by someone, but it still does not allow you to drain your own wielder.
Aura of Hunger: 250 Life Force. Your hunger transcends your touch. It reaches out, grasping for more, and can never be sated.
Allows you to Siphon 10% of the Life Force normally drained from a blow over the course of a minute from up to three opponents within ten feet. This ability cannot affect your wielder but can be selectively targeted.
Unfortunately, all of that feverish draining was enough to almost kill the giant beast that it was leeching from the second time. Its internal furnaces finally started to grow cold. As a result, it curled every tighter where it had fallen near the door when it had stopped it from trying to fly away. It did that in an attempt to keep some of the warmth that the Ebon Blade was siphoning from its soul, but it was useless.
The blade didn’t want that. Not when it had an endless well spring of energy here. So, it stayed patient for the better part of a week, allowing it to regain enough of its strength to move around again, however weakly.
Of course, that lethargy also made the blade realize that its next upgrade could well be its last for a while, so it waited patiently and considered its options. Further upgrades to Improved Siphon and Increase Control were impossible at the moment, no matter how desirable. Repair Soul 2, on the other hand, was affordable, if only barely, but the blade had no wish to know more. Not yet, not until it understood the fragmentary images that it had experienced the first time.
Parasitic Link: 100 Life Force
Aura of Hunger: 250 Life Force
Empower Blade: 250 Life Force
Increase Reserves 6: 250 Life Force
Increase Senses 2: 300 Life Force
Increase Connection 3: 600 Life Force
Repair Soul 2: 1000 Life Force
Increase Control 3: 1500 Life Force
Improved Siphon 7: 2000 Life Force
Everything else was affordable, but largely uninteresting. The blade had no wish to stay awake longer by draining its wielder with Parasitic Link, or to see the world more clearly so that it could better study the metallic shit stains that covered the walls of this cave with Increase Senses 2.
All it really wanted was more control or more reserves. Yet, for some reason, it kept coming back to Empower Blade. Out of the descriptions on all of its abilities, it was the most inscrutable.
Empower Blade: You are more than just steel. All you need to do is manifest your true nature. (One of several paths will be chosen upon selection. Other paths may not be started until the first path is completed.)
Truthfully, it wasn’t sure what it would be getting from the deal. It didn’t like mysteries, but no matter what it tried the option yielded up no more information.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Still, no matter how many times it considered getting other options, it was Empower Blade that called to it. After a week of deliberation, it finally decided take the gamble.
Instantly, a new window appeared, and the runes on its blade flared darkly with a black light. That made the dying dragon it was still embedded in squirm uncomfortably. The Ebon Blade ignored that and focused on its new options.
You are still broken, but there are many ways to become whole. Shards of your true nature have been unlocked. Which path will you choose: Blood, Death, or Vengeance?
Blood - Harvest more from Life Force - squeeze every drop from your victims in the pursuit of power.
Death - Rob power from the corpses of the dead as well as the bodies of the living.
Vengeance - Not all deaths are the same. Gain more power from claiming those who have wronged you or your wielder, and rebalancing the scales.
(Each path is a commitment, and new paths may not be started until older ones are complete.)
The blade’s first instinct was to go for Vengeance. It might not have understood the images it had seen when it tried to repair its soul, but it did know that someone had wronged it. Still, it resisted that impulse.
I have no idea who to seek out to inflict my vengeance, nor any way to seek them out, it counseled itself. As much as it would be a foolish choice.
Once it had phrased the problem in those terms, the choice became a simple one. Its instincts told it that Vengeance was the correct path, and its logic told it that Blood was the best choice, considering how badly it wanted to slaughter. In the situation it was currently in, though, neither of those was the correct decision.
Right now, it could feel the wheezing breath of the dragon. It had let the giant beast suffer as long as it could, but in another upgrade or two, it would grow still and cold. If there was any energy left to be salvaged after that, it would be from Death.
When the blade selected it, its glowing runes flared a second time, with black-purple light. Instantly, another screen appeared.
Death is the natural ending of life, but it was not the end for you, nor will it be the end for your victims. The path of Death allows you to claim those souls that are not already claimed by the gods or sworn in allegiance to devils, and with higher levels of Death alignment, even those bonds may be broken.
The path of Death allows you to harvest souls. Those souls may be kept to advance further along the path or converted into Life Energy as you desire.
The Path of Death: Level 1 -> 3 souls of men -> to reach Level 2.
Level 1 Powers:
Drain Soul: Harvest the souls of your victims for later use.
Convert Souls: Devour a soul for its constituent essence.
For a moment, the blade was disappointed. Souls of men? It thought in disappointment, so then taking this to feast even further on a dragon was meaningless? As soon as it did that, though, another window appeared.
Not all souls are created equal, but even the smallest of animals have one, waiting to be harvested. There is certainly a hierarchy, though, and not all souls are suitable for real advancement.
Least Souls: These are wispy, vaporous things that convert into Life Force almost immediately.
Animal Souls: These souls contain more energy and hold their shape when taken, but are good for little.
Lesser Monster Souls: Most monster souls are of the lesser variety. It would take 20 monster souls to equal the soul of a man.
Greater Monster Souls: The greatest of monsters has a soul that is only one-fifth as strong as a man. These souls are necessary to complete the Path of Death.
The Souls of Men: These souls are vital to any number of forbidden rites and easily convertible to about a hundred of Life Force as needed. These souls are necessary to complete the Path of Death.
The Souls of Great Men: A few of the strongest men, most elves, and other elder races will have souls that are several times more powerful than the souls of common men.
Dragon Souls: Depending on their age, Dragon Souls can be ten to twenty times more powerful than the souls of men. These souls are necessary to complete the Path of Death.
God Souls: Rare and nearly impossible to obtain, these souls aren’t even harvestable without great skill and significant progress along this path.
For a moment, the blade was overloaded at the sheer level of information it was being bombarded with, but in the end, it learned several things, including the fact that Gods were out there somewhere. Somehow, he felt like at least some of them were to blame for its current predicament, too, and that only aroused its need for vengeance further.
The new developments gave it much to think about, and after reflecting for a time on it, the magic that fueled it cobbled together a character sheet of sorts, which was informative, even if it wasn’t quite sure what that was.
The Ebon Blade
Life Force: 1000/1000
Soul Storage: 4/14
Siphon: 10-20
Path: Death, Level 1
Reserves: 5 - Your gemstone is large but cloudy
Siphon: 6 - Your blade is sharp but tarnished.
Connection: 2 - Weak. Your hilt is twisted and loose.
Control: 1 - Weak - Your runes eroded and worn.
Senses: 2 - Dim - Your hilt is tarnished.
Soul: 1 - Broken - You don’t understand yourself or your past.
Powers:
Drain Soul: Harvest the souls of your victims for later use.
Convert Souls: Devour a soul for its constituent essence.
It was disappointed by what it read. It felt strong, but in the grand scheme of things, it knew that it was barely more than awake. Real strength would take significant time to achieve.
It will also require the grip of a strong wielder, it realized. I have feasted on the beast for a long time, but if I lay here forgotten for decades, will I even remember all that I have learned when someone next picks me up?
It didn’t know the answer to that, and it didn’t want to find out. Unfortunately, it would have to. Even though it was careful not to drain any more life from the dragon, six days later, after it had been in the cave for nearly two weeks, it saw the message it had been dreading.
You have claimed 1 dragon soul!
The beast had been still for days and growing cooler. Without the sudden feeling of the soul burning within it and the message associated with it, the blade might not have realized that the dragon had passed. However, now that it had, it needed to decide what to do next.