Raiden walked towards a plain-looking building in the middle of the Sects compound. It was small, almost like a large shed, which was by design. It was where the Oblivion Blades kept Sprit Blades in the compound. At any point, there were two blades stored within its walls. There were so many protections that only members of the Nine could gain access, one of which was calmly waiting for Raiden.
A tall man stood, arms folded, watching Raiden approach. Pointed ears stood out from his black hair, which was cut short. Electric blue irises seemed to sparkle in the darkening sky. The member of the Nine wore a dark blue tunic with black pants.
When Raiden drew closer, he bowed deeply.
“Honor to the member of the Nine,” Raiden said, resiting the traditional greeting.
Unseen by Raiden, the member of the Nine rolled his eyes and unfolded his arms.
“Greeting, young Kage Raiden, but this being your last attempt, I think formalities can be dropped,” the member replied. Then leaned forwarded and in a conspiratorial tone said, “It’s just me.”
Raiden, still bowing, smirked. “Then greetings to the Stormstrider. I’m honored to have you attending to my last attempt.”
The Stormstrider winced and sighed. “Really!?” he said half complaining.
Raiden straightened, revealing his grin to the Stormstrider. The Stormstrider had been a storm elemental that progressed to where he could form a physical body. He still had the playful nature that many spirits had. Although he usually saved that side for children and kept up the appearance of a wise and powerful swordsman of the Oblivion Blades for everyone else. Raiden and Naomi had gotten to know the man over the past few months that he had been visiting their sect. He had first been intrigued mainly because of their attempts, which he had said were some of the more unique ways of bonding to a blade he had ever seen.
Raiden chuckled. “Couldn’t help it, Won. Stormstrider is a great name, though.”
“It was the first few thousand times hearing it. Now it’s just embarrassing. I hope whenever you get a code name as an adventurer it won’t be from a teenagers fevered dream,” Won said, gesturing for Raiden to follow him into the building.
Raiden fell into step next to the taller man.
“Soo, this time…” Won said, glancing at Raiden from the corner of his eye as he began channeling magic through the door. An assortment of clicks sound as the protections began to be undone.
“I promised Naomi no more dismemberments,” Raiden said quickly.
“Hmm,” Won said, flatly clearly not believing Raiden.
“Well, what can I do when the thing attacks? It’s Iridesium-rank?”
“Yeah, but proving yourself worthy of bonding is kind of the point of all of this, and losing limbs might not be the best way of doing that. But if you promised Naomi then you're serious, I just hope that translates into reality,” Won said, opening the door and gesturing for Raiden to go first.
Raiden hurried past, only to go as far as a green box panted on the floor. The space was even smaller than the exterior would have you believe. Won closed the door and moved to stand next to him in another green box. A host of clicks announced the layer of defenses reactivating.
Raiden felt energy pulse through him and over his entire body, searching for anything out of place. The only thing that Raiden had brought with him was his sword. It was cheap, heavy, and decently balanced. Not an ideal blade, but it was a gift from his sister and the best thing they could afford as their uncle wouldn’t spend manifest coins on anything beyond the necessities on them, which luckily or unluckily included training.
Once the scan was complete, which didn’t take more than a few seconds, the boxes they were both standing on lurched before sinking into the floor.
“Here we go, Rai. You're being judged as soon as you come into view, remember. Do your best and try to not die. I hated having to clean up after the last time and hated it even more, having to be the one to explain to Lisa’s parents,” Won said as their platforms slowly kept lowering. Every inch they lowered, a host of clicks could be heard.
Raiden was too nervous to answer so all he could manage was a sharp nodded.
Won, seeing how nervous Raiden was, gave him a reassuring smile. “Relax and focus on your breathing. That will help. Also, if you heard rumours that the Spirit blade will react to your fears, were full of shit, so relax. It’s not like it could be any worse than the other two times you tried. Sure you could die, but if it didn’t the second time, it probably won’t this time, so you might have good odds,” Won said cheerfully.
Raiden blinked and focused on Won, who was now grinning. “How is this helpful?”
“It got you out of your thoughts, so I will call it a win,” Won replied with a cheeky smile.
Raiden shook his head and let out a strained chuckle. “The first time I lost my arm, the second time it cut my leg off and left a scar across my chest.”
“It sure did,” Won said, pointing at him. “Through the fire and flames we are reforged, Rai. Sure, those times weren’t ideal, but hey, better than dieing so I would say shot somewhere in between your first two attempts. Or better yet, not get blood everywhere. Channel your inner Naomi, then we should be good.”
“We?”
“Yep, if you don’t bleed everywhere, then I have less work to do afterwards and that means you haven’t lost a limb soo for the sake of us both, keep the red stuff inside you. Oh, we start in three…two…one.”
Raiden started, Won’s little distraction tactic, had worked. He hadn’t noticed that the platform had lowered to where the floor was at his neck level. The platform suddenly moved quicker and darkness enveloped Raiden as the platform rapidly moved downwards.
Raiden’s mind went into overdrive. He had promised his sister he had a plan, but that was simply to not let the damn thing near him to strike. The Spirit Blade may be at the peak of advancement, but it appeared to actually be testing them, or everyone would have died in an instant.
He let a long breath, trying to slow his suddenly pounding heart. The darkness was suddenly gone and Raiden found himself emerging from the ceiling of a vast, empty room. Glowstones flickered to life as they descended toward the stone floor. There wasn’t much to the space. The only thing that drew Raiden’s gaze were two sheathed blades on display stands at the far end of the space.
Here we go, Raiden thought, clenching and unclenching his fists. He let out another breath, his gaze fixated on those blades. What would happen next would determine his fate. Even if Naomi’s plan worked out, he knew this would be his last chance to bond with such a weapon and he wouldn’t let it pass him by.
Last time, best time, he thought, repeating a phrase Naomi used frequently.
***
Mili was sitting in her usual spot in class. She had gotten there early to pass some paperwork Zerine had done for the temple to Ai, who was currently sitting at her desk going over the documents. She had looked the papers over and found that the runes and magical arrays were above anything she could figure out, which meant they were up there in complexity and techniques because she knew she wasn’t a slouch when it came to such things.
It had been a few days since she started living at the Trevel household and had gotten kinda used to her new life in her future family. Although she had to admit it was a bit more hectic and crazy, then expected.
Several students interrupted her thoughts as they came in early. Seeing her, they began whispering with occasional glances her way.
The news about her moving into the Trevel’s compound was quite the gossip in their class, which she ignored because frankly there was way too much going on for her to even care about the mild scandal some viewed her situation as. No, they could talk all they wanted, but the Trevel family was absolutely the craziest family and place she had ever experienced…and she loved it.
First off, there were quite a few unspoken rules, many of which revolved around Varino and the different signs she was up to something. For example, one red flag was if you saw Estel, Varino, and Zerine scheming, which she learned firsthand.
Mili had been heading to the magic research area in the compound when there was a loud bang. Soon, multicolored clouds filled the hall that drifted low to the ground. She covered her nose and mouth with her shirt right before the clouds enveloped her.
She grumbled, questioning, "What in the world?" She could sense magic in the clouds, but believed her enchanted shirt would provide enough protection. Clearly, she was mistaken as the world suddenly sharpened.
If she didn’t know what tripping balls meant, she did now. Although it wasn’t the experience one would expect from a crazy trip. The clouds heightened her senses, and she suddenly realized that she had messed up on several homework assignments. How did she miss those mistakes before? Now she thought of it, she could make so many improvements to things. Her mind raced from realization to realization. Things she had missed suddenly stuck out, while concepts that had been difficult were now obvious to her.
Mili had a giddy smile on her face as her mind speed up into overdrive. Before she could think any further, an exasperated sigh made her turn around. Lady Adunita stood outside of the slowly expanding wall of colorful clouds. She had a hand covering an eye, rubbing her forehead, while Bernard was struggling to hold back laughter.
“I-I told you, never leave those three alone just because you think they’ll follow a lesson to the letter,” Bernard managed to get out before giving up as he howled with laughter as a pixy drunkenly drifted by. The tiny being had a thoughtful expression and was giggling to itself as it headed down the hallway. At the same time of the pixy passing by, a slime that somehow figured out a different way to move around flew by. Instead of the normal round gelatin form that rolled slowly along, this slime had somehow made itself taller and thinner like a wheel. It was currently zooming up and down the hallway, causing the clouds to swirl from its passing.
“By the gods, I swear…I left them with a limited supply so this,” Lady Adunita guested to the slowly filing hallway, “didn’t happen. I-I give up.” She sighed again, and a breeze took the clouds away. “I don’t even know how those two do half the crazy things they do, and that isn’t taking into the account throwing Estel into the mix. How has this compound survived so long?”
Bernard couldn’t answer as he was wiping tears from his eyes, still laughing. Mili followed his gaze to see other slimes had joined the wheel slime. From Mili’s heightened perspective, it was obvious the slimes had gotten caught up by the experiment and were communicating about something. It appeared been discussing on how to set up what looked to be a racecourse and shared how to turn into this new form, something that Mili had never seen before, nor would she ever forget.
Mili turned to back Bernard and Sashi, grinning. “Well, at least the slimes know how to move around a hell of a lot faster now.”
Right as she spoke, a group of slims zoomed by before turning around a corner and out of sight. At her words made Lady Adunita chuckle, while Bernard started cracking up again.
Later she would learn that Zerine had wanted to make the elixir to help with some project she and Lady Adunita were working on and Varino wanted to try it and things had gotten a little out of hand. Mili would never forget watching slimes fly around the compound, moving on the walls and even the ceiling in their racing game. Even the pixies had joined them, and of course, Varino. That was just the first night.
The next day, she learned of another unspoken rule. She was out on a walk getting more familiar with the place when she saw a pixy flying ahead of a slime in their new wheel form, head into a room. As she neared the room, which had its door open, she heard Zerine’s voice. She peered into the room to find Zerine surrounded by slimes, pixies, and sprits. Varino sat on her lap and Zerine was…reading a book aloud!? Was she reading to the creatures?
One thing she still barely gotten used to was the fact the compound was home to many creatures. There were many types of spirits, a variety of pixies, and some other creatures and they were just living there, not tamed or summoned…just there!? The oddest part was they seemed like part of the family, treated like literally everyone else. It was just different and something she would get used to. But reading aloud…that was something entirely different.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Zerine had paused and looked up curiously, meeting Mili’s gaze. The silence stretched for a few seconds and Mili found herself the center of attention as the gazes of the creatures locked on to her. She smiled, embarrassed, and went to step back, but suddenly there was a gust of air and something pulled Mili into the room.
Letting out a squeak of surprise was all Mili got out before she found herself sitting on the floor surround by slimes. Evidently, she was now joining whatever this was.
Is this another rule? She wondered, looking down as two slimes moved to sit in her lap.
The rule became clear as Shara poked her head into the room and exclaimed, “there you are-”
She was now sitting next to Mili with a cluster of pixies in her lap, looking resigned to her fate.
Never interrupt the reading time for the slimes or they will basically hold you captive, Mili thought, amused by the situation, and listened to the story that Zerine was reading. Zerine during all of this only had a smile that showed her amusement at everything going on. To Mili’s surprise, she actually ended up enjoying the story.
It was about the creation of the Oblivion Blades sect. The story was told from a few first-hand accounts too. It was actually way less incredible than the other stories had led her to believe. Apparently, the First Empress had a group of nine talented crafters that were also knights. One day, she walked into their crafting room with her closest advisers and told them they were all going to make the first Spirit Blade, which would get them enough renown to start their own sect. The group of nine thought she was joking till she literally dragged them to craft the first Spirit Blade. There were several jokes at the Oblivion Blades' expense calling them the Oblivious Blades, which came from the Frist Empress herself. From the Empresses perspective, the knights had been wasting their talents and needed a direction along with a bit of tough love to get them going. But the story went over how it took four weeks of nonstop crafting, where all of them, including the empresses and her advisers, worked till it was complete and Rending Dusk was born. The first and most powerful Spirit blade ever created to this day.
There were so many details that Mili had never heard of or read before. The story was more than enough to make her forget Shara and the slimes surrounding her. She had heard that the first blade was called Duskstrider, or was it Umbral Strike? Either way, this story was incredible.
Sitting in that room made her realize just how unique of a situation she was in. The moment seemed to stretch as Zerine, smiling, read aloud to a host of creatures. It made her want to be part of this family whole heartily, with no reservations.
Mili had, of course, had held reservations about everything moving so quickly. She cared deeply for Naro, but that didn’t stop the fears of what this change would bring for her. But now…now she was certain that this place, this family, was something where she could truly be just herself. It could give her the chance to figure out who she was and wanted to be outside of what her parents had forced upon her.
It starts with me apologizing and making up with Zerine, she had thought, absentmindedly patting the slimes in her lap.
“Yeah, your first two days were wild, but I’m glad you feel that way,” Naro thought to her, interrupting her musings.
Mili grinned to herself. Mental communication over long distance with using barely any mana was just one of the many benefits from their soul bond. They both could block the communication if they wanted, but they hadn’t. At first it felt a little strange, but now it was like second nature to check in on one another or sense what they were feeling. They still didn’t share everything, but keeping it open made them both feel just that little closer.
“I plan on making it up to Zerine tonight. I just hope this awkwardness can be behind us already,” she thought back.
“I would like you two to be friends again, especially since I think Zerine needs more than creatures as friends, because I don’t know how much she can actually call them that. But little steps I know. But back to the craziness of the home, you’ll get the hang of it. Although if I’m honest, when Zerine and Varino are in their…lets do crazy things mode, there is no telling what could happen.”
Mili snorted, which got her strange looks from the others students. “I’m still reeling from the few days there, but it’s actually kinda fun, ya know?”
“Just wait till you get a full day of training, then I will be begging you to stay,” Naro joked.
“That’s one thing I’m actually really excited about. Bernards alchemy lessons have been great. I personally can’t wait for some lessons with your grandmother.”
“Great Grandmother,” Naro corrected. “But her lessons have been amazing. You will definitely enjoy them. Oh, but some of my friends just showed talk to later.”
“Good luck with your mana control exam,” Mili remarked, knowing what would come next.
“Shit! I forgot! Thanks! Love you!”
Hearing him think that and feeling his affection through the connection sent warmth through her.
“Love you too. But you should really meditate before that starts.”
“Goood point!”
***
Raiden stood quietly as Won went over the process for the bonding attempt. In short, Raiden would have to convince the Spirit Blade that he matched what the spirit was looking for. How you may ask? By criteria left solely to the spirit to decide, of course. The first time, Raiden answered questions about himself and Naomi, which then lead to a display of his sword fighting skill and a sword fight that caused him to lose his arm. The second time he had to show his magic abilities, which ended in yet another fight, but it was a far more disparate fight, which resulted in him losing his leg and getting a scar across his chest.
“Remember, the spirit can tell if you’re lying or pretty much anything else about you while you’re in this room. So,” Won said, clapping his hands together. “Spirit Blade, take it away.” And with that, Won vanished and was replaced by a shadowing figure.
The shadows were more cloud-like than made of pure darkness like other shadow affinity spirits Raiden had seen. Deep purple lines shimmered from within the darkness, which Raiden assumed were the eyes of the Spirit Blade.
“Its come this, Raiden,” a deep voice said, coming from all around Raiden. “After the other died, many have given up and yet, here you are.”
The figure moved, walking around Raiden who kept himself facing the being, not letting it have any advantage over him if it attacked.
“My sister came here a few days ago as well. I’m just-”
“Just doing what your uncle forces you,” the shadowy figure finished his sentence, waving aside Raiden’s words. “Is that all that drives you? Once you can leave this place, will you stagnate, explore other pursuits, or will you keep along the path you’re currently walking?”
Raiden’s brow furrowed. This …this was not what he was expecting.
“Are you asking about my path? Because I-”
A pressure erupted from the clouds of shadow as it released an aura so beyond anything Raiden had experienced before that it had a physical aspect to it. Raiden staggered as the wave of power washed over him. Everything grew heavier and heavier. Breaths became harder to take, while he became fully suppressed and then some.
“Will your willpower take you all the way? Or will you fail like many before you?” the deep voice wondered in an insultingly bored tone.
Raiden gritted his teeth and flared his own aura, creating a clash. A clash he had no hope of winning, but that wasn’t his goal. No, his goal was to dodge.
He whirled as a blade made from the same shadowy cloud material sliced the air where he had just been. The pressure from the spirit blade eased, but was still stifling. He had passed the first test. Could his aura and willpower resist even if for a moment? Clearly, the next was a continuation of that, because the pressure slowed his movements and limited his ability to use his own magic.
Raiden drew his sword and deflected a slash, shoving the blade aside, grunting from the effort. This distracted him and the aura suddenly spiked and Raiden swore.
What the fuuuck, he thought as he realized what this attempt would be like. The damn Spirit Blade was going to keep forcing him to use his willpower and aura to fend off the Spirit’s own suppression and if his concentration slipped, the full effects of the suppression would redouble.
“This is going to fucking suck,” he thought, but evidently he said that out loud as the Spirit let out a deep laugh before the cloudy blade swung at him again.
***
Who the actual fuck is Zerine, Mili thought as she was knocked to the sandy ground by Zerine’s counterstrike…again.
They had been practising when Mili asked if Zerine wanted to spar. She had planned to talk things out during their sparring, but their hand-to-hand fighting quickly developed into a furious bout, which she lost. So they went at it again and again. Now they had been sparring so long, Mili forgot just how many matches they had done. They even started using practice swords too, which only lead to her losing faster. Evidently Zerine was a monster with a blade and hand-to-hand fighting.
Their conversations were mostly about what the next bout will be like or when they took a brief break to drink water were about Mili’s classes as Zerine’s tutoring for her, Shara, Estel, and Neil had also started. She didn’t know she would be a little jealous of Naro having so much more work to prepare him to go to the navy academy, but here she was brushing sand off for the umteenth time.
This is just another test of willpower. But gods, I just want to land a single hit…just one, she thought to herself as Zerine raised an eyebrow.
“Ready?” Zerine wondered.
Mili was breathing hard and to her relief, Zerine’s breaths were coming quicker too. Not like hers, but still an improvement to see that she could get tried, too.
“I should have asked to train with you all sooner,” Mili said, trying to extend the break.
Zerine smirked. “This is just a start. You haven’t even gotten to the obstacle courses or had Markilo and Zara beat the living hell out of you. As for magic,” Zerine shrugged. “I suspect you’ll be fine. But we’re starting in three…two..one.”
Oh…shit, Mili thought.
***
“Shit!” Raiden shouted, barely avoiding the shadowy blade, which whistled as it just missed slicing his face, but the tip just barely scratched a thin line across nose. It stung something fierce, but Raiden ignored the pain, keeping the mounting pressure from the Spirit’s aura at bay.
Their fight had gone on for what felt like an eternity, but Raiden guessed had only been maybe ten minutes. Had he made progress? Fuck no. The Spirit in question was the first Spirit Blade. It had reached Iridesium-rank millenniums before Raiden’s grandparents had even met each other. It was going easy on him; he knew even taking that into consideration, its aura was still leagues above anything he could handle.
At least I haven’t lost a limb, he thought, ignoring the tiny drops of blood dripping from the scratch on his nose.
It was getting harder to keep the aura from crushing his own, and his movements were getting slower, too. Despite the mounting odds, Raiden kept going. Even after that scratch on his nose was followed by a long gash on right arm, forcing him to switch his sword to his left hand, he didn’t falter. He couldn’t fail. A part of him knew the spirit was pushing him harder and harder as time went on.
At this rate, if I stumble or fail to stop that aura, the damn thing is going to kill me, he thought. At that realization, something inside Raiden balked. He had promised. This couldn’t…no wouldn’t be where his path ended.
Right as his resolve firmed, a wave of force slammed into him, followed by a sharp pain that went from his left shoulder down to right hip. Raiden cried out as he was blasted back, rolling along the stone floor. He didn’t let himself lay on his back, but got to his knees breathing hard. Blood slowly coated his shirt, while sweat dripped down his back.
The shadowy figure appeared in front of him, its blade held in both hands. This was the first time that Raiden got a good look at the blade itself. It was long and curved, made from the same shadowy cloud-like material as the sprit that stood glowering down at him.
“It appears that this is the end of your path,” the spirit said, drawing its blade back and lining it up with his neck.
It’s going to behead me, Raiden thought, his gaze fixated on the blade. At least the aura pressure is g-…gone!
An idea sparked, and it was crazy, but if this was going to be the end, then crazy was all he had left.
“No final words? No desperate pleas or promises?” the spirit wondered.
Raiden only glared at the spirit, who shrugged.
“So be it.”
The spirit swung, aiming to decapitate Raiden who moved. He ducked and conjured a blade made from shadowy lightning and darkness. The spirit had stopped the pressure, allowing him to use his magic, which he would use every bit he had.
He didn’t have to move far. With a shout, he swung and his blade met…nothing!
What!? he thought, but the shadows shifted to his left, and he whirled.
Without thinking, Raiden put up a hand up, throwing everything he had into creating a tiny barrier.
CLANG!!
The shadowy blade slammed into the barrier. For a few seconds, both struggled, the Spirit Balde to break the barrier and Raiden pouring everything he had in keeping it up. Raiden’s heart was thudding loudly in his ears, drowning out everything. The edges of his vision were darkening as he rapidly approached the limit of both his willpower and magic.
CRACK!
The barrier shattered, sounding like breaking glass, and the blade swung, slicing off his left hand and flying to his neck. Everything slowed down as the blade moved towards his neck.
NO! he shouted right as the edge touched his neck. “ITS…NOT MY…END!” he shouted as only his willpower held the blade back from taking his head. A thin line of blood trickled down his neck from where the blade just nicked his neck and where it was currently being held back. All his focus was on this single act. The blade shook as the spirit resisted, but Raiden wasn’t done.
Tendrils of black wrapped around the blade. Gods, even this little magic made the darkness encroach further into his vision. Even breathing was becoming difficult. Was the world spinning? But with a wordless shout, the tendrils and his willpower forced and pulled the blade away.
Raiden could barely keep himself upright. The world wouldn’t stop spinning, but he still somehow managed to grasp the hilt of the shadowy blade. He pushed it further away, still pouring his magic and willpower into the action. It never occurred to him to disarm the spirit. At this point, his only thought was to keep the blade away from him.
Then suddenly, the blade was gone just as darkness took him.
***
Mili was on her back, and she groaned.
“I-I think I’m done for the night,” she groaned as Zerine walked over to stand next to her.
Zerine tilted her head with a smile growing.
“You lasted a lot longer than the others do normally,” Zerine said, crouching next to Mili, who simply couldn’t move in her current state.
“Oooh, that’s why when I asked them about sparring you, the others all flinched,” Mili gasped, still trying to get control over her breath.
Zerine chuckled. Silence fell for a moment, but before Mili could speak, Zerine did.
“I know you’ve felt guilty about how things went down when we were younger,” Zerine said, her tone more serious. Mili stiffened at her words. “I’ll be honest. It was bitchy of you to lord it over us that you got your crest first, but then again we were all annoying little brats back then. It’s been years, and I really didn’t care and simply ignored practically all of you in class. The whole thing was just was a shock at first and I-” Zerine let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “Lets just start over again, okay? After all, you're going to be my sister-in-law and we both have changed from those bratty kids.” Zerine stood and held out a hand to Mili, who grasped, and Zerine pulled to her feet.
“I had come up with all these ways to apologize and-” Mili was saying, but Zerine interrupted.
“Beating you up really helped get out some aggression towards you, I will admit,” Zerine said with a smile. After a moment, Mili laughed and Zerine joined her.
Mili held a hand out to Zerine. “I’m Mili Gravefield.”
“And I’m Zerine Trevel,” Zerine said, grinning as she took Mili’s offered hand, then shook it.
“Now, I know you said you were tired, but do you want to beat up the boys for not telling you about what sparring me is like?” Zerine wondered. A twinkle entering her gaze.
Mili titled her head, thinking. “You know what, yeah I think some pay back is in order.”