Tim woke up with a jolt, only to find out that he was laying passed out on the floor. Instead of feeling the cold hard flooring of the citadel though, there was a soft pillow that propped his head up. Groggily getting up, he saw Shuren sitting next to him on a comfortable looking chair.
"Thank you" Tim looked at Shuren and nodded in her direction.
Shuren just shook her head and sighed. "Really? Do all Earthlings have such little patience? You could've waited to go into secluded mediation before doing that, y'know. Just... nevermind."
"Anyway, what abilities does your Named Weapon have? Each one is unique, it's abilities dependant upon how the previous owner raised it. Don't you think I deserve to see how yours works in exchange for all this information?" Shuren asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Well yeah, sure. I'm not really quite sure if I understand how to use it though. And please, take a few steps back. It's a pretty terrifying ability" Tim had no qualms about revealing this ability of his because if the girl was going to follow him around for 50 years, she would get to know sooner or later anyway. Besides, she had more than earned it. It felt good to have an ally whose best interest was to see you get stronger, he had definitely struck gold by agreeing to partner up with her. Tim however knew that at the end of the day, their alliance was only temporary, and he could not trust someone born and raised in the multiverse unconditionally, it could only be forged over a long period of time.
Hearing that Shuren immediately distanced herself from Tim, watching in anticipation at the show that was about to commence.
Tim drew his rapier from the scabbard and focused on his trusted partner. Emulating the stance used by 'Feng Xuan Xi', though that was probably just a fake name, he lightly muttered "Warrior's Resentment, Astral Form: Superimposition" while visualizing the 2 bloody phantom blades he intended to materialize.
Something within the rapier stirred, and Tim watched in awe as two, slightly blurry bloody blades materialized, trailing behind his sword as if multiple copies of it were superimposed one after the other.
Just as Tim was about to exclaim in joy, a sensation of overwhelming despair and terror gripped his heart. He started to hear voices whispering in his ear, full of unwillingness and resentment against the owner of this blade.
'To be forced to such an extent by such unorthodox and treacherous methods.... I REFUSE TO FALL TO THE BLADE OF SUCH A COWARD'
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
'To think he was concealing his strength the entire time, the entire battle until now was just a play for his entertainment. If by some miracle I survive on this day, I swear by the progenitor that I shall have my revenge'
'T-The Silanai Clan. To run into one of their scions, I truly am unlucky'
'Am I, Chen Zhan, going to die here?'
'Unwillingness'
'Hatred'
'Revenge'
'Death'
The voices kept echoing in Tim's mind and kept growing more numerous and vengeful, while he hurriedly tried to cancel the summoning by throwing the sword away. But it was to no avail, he found himself unable to move his body. Just when he was on the verge of screaming from agony, he heard a single, solitary voice suppress them all.
A voice that he recognized.
"Shut the fuck up, losers." Tim's eyes widened as he realized that this voice belonged to none other than the previous owner of this sword. The moment he spoke, the spirits screamed in refusal but quietened down a few moments later.
"So, kid. You managed to inherit my old kursiska, eh? To be able to bind it despite being so weak slightly piques my interest. Don't worry, I am not sealed in this sword or anything melodramatic like that. If you ever reach the #$@$%$# stage, the divine mark I have placed will guide you to me if you are so inclined to visit. Though you won't and I'm just wasting my time talking. Take the sword as a consolation prize, and for my transgressions in the lower realms." The voice stated before fizzling out.
Tim was left flabbergasted by the experience, and left even more confused when instead of learning of a higher stage of cultivation, he only managed to hear unintelligible gibberish instead. Was the difference between the previous owner and him so large that he wasn't even qualified to hear what realm of cultivation level he had reached? The multiverse operated on scales that were beyond Tim's current ability to even visualize.
Though the silver lining to that experience was that the voices had dissipated, yet the phantom swords were still present. Using warrior's resentment put a continuous strain on his body, much like utilizing the Dao did. He estimated that his present self could only maintain Superimposition for a few minutes at most.
Switching stances, he now wanted to try out that Lazer attack his unknown benefactor had allowed him access to.
"Warrior's Resentment, Astral Form: Superimposition Release."
Tim swung the sword and then brought it to an abrupt halt. He now felt a direct connection with Warrior's Resentment and he communicated a desire to make the blades collide and return to a single blade while unleashing the same attack he had seen earlier.
A red beam of light burst out from Tim's strike, stretching out for a few dozen meters before fizzling out.
"You sliced it" Shuren muttered absentmindedly, shocked at the new trump card Tim had just acquired.
"Sliced what?" Tim asked questioningly. The encounter with 'that' existence had still left him slightly rattled.
Shuren just pointed, and Tim turned his head to look. Soon, he too stood there with his jaw hanging open. The robust grey material the entire citadel was constructed with, had a large scar stretching across it that was about 3 meters wide and easily cut in a few feet deep.
"Well fuck"