Hunter continued to bathe his weapon in spectral fire until it grew icy to the touch. He had to drain his mana five times and alternate between meditating and using his Flame of Avarice. When the trident grew still, Hunter was mentally and physically exhausted. He allowed his eyes to close, and sleep quickly took him.

The muted crimson rays of the sun woke him the next morning. He stretched and was surprised to notice that none of his burns from the previous day remained. Hunter prodded the skin to see if his eyes were fooling him, but it looked unblemished as if the last day's events had never happened. If it weren't for the heavy stench of rot, his new golden vambrace, and the trident that had never left his hand even—even while he was sleeping—Hunter might have believed it to be a dream.

A loud gurgling in his stomach reminded him that he was famished. He wasn't keen on the idea of finding something to eat in his surroundings. He had never learned how to forage, and everything was likely to be tainted by demonic energy anyway.

As he was rising to his feet, a fierce coldness rushed into his hand from his trident. His first instinct was to drop the weapon in surprise, but his fingers refused to respond to his mental commands.

Congratulations! Your Minor Greed Imp's Trident (Lvl ?) has consumed enough energy to evolve. Would you like to influence its evolution? (Y/N)

Hunter frowned at the prompt. If he was stuck with this weapon—and it was very likely that he was—he wanted some say in how it progressed. He mentally selected, "yes."

You have selected to influence this item's evolution.

Analyzing relevant skills…

Synergy detected with the Passive Skill: Sword Mastery (Lvl 1).

Evolution Initiated.

At the final prompt, his trident started to transform. A green glow spread along the metal, and then it began to buckle and twist like a writhing snake. After a couple of minutes of thrashing, it quieted. It shortened until if was about two and a half feet long. He felt the part in his palm subtly shift until it fit his fingers perfectly. A simple guard grew over his hand, and then the tip started to broaden and sharpen until it became a sword. As a final touch, a small emerald rose from the bottom of the hilt. Once it had manifested, green veins began to snake from the jewel until they spread throughout the sword.

When it was done, the ever-present sense of hunger Hunter felt from the blade dimmed. If the teenager didn't know better, he would say that the sword was exhausted and needed to rest. He activated his Covetous Eyes and studied the sword.

Common Sword of Avarice (Lvl 5): This common-tier sword is used by entities on the Path of Greed. This sword has the ability to bypass some of its victim's defense by covering itself in Flames of Avarice. Its actual value comes from its greed. Every hit has the chance to steal energy from the target. Due to its demonic origin, familiarity with this weapon will not precipitate skill growth.

When he finished reading the description, the Archive surprised him.

WARNING: You have been influenced by the Cardinal Sin: Greed. You have earned +1 Faith. All demonic items now have the ability to precipitate skill growth.

Hunter was both excited and nervous by the series of prompts. He was thrilled to have a weapon that felt more natural to him. If the teenager could gain more skill levels, he could earn more Path points and finish off more Paths. Since he couldn't level and didn't have a class, Paths seemed like the only way for him to survive in the Rift.

The more concerning part was the demonic influence that he had to undergo to receive the weapon. Abstractly, he knew the sword was affecting his mental state. He didn't even have the ability to let go of it. He didn't even want to know how painful it would be once the weapon continued to grow.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Curious, he pulled up his stat sheet and checked out his Faith stat.

FTH: 0/1*

He focused on the asterisk, and another prompt was pulled up to explain it.

Faith is determined by your allegiance to either the holy or infernal faction. Actions that benefit one side over the other will increase reputation with that faction to the detriment of the other. As Faith increases, you will become more proficient with those factions' abilities and will become weaker to the other's. WARNING: If your Faith exceeds your Willpower, you will become more susceptible to the will of the associated faction.

Hunter audibly swallowed when he read the last line. If the Archives were correct, then increasing his Faith would become a terrible idea. He didn't want to become some demon's plaything. On the other hand, he didn't think that following the Archivist's instructions would be that helpful either. The strange creature had thrown him into a Rift to get mauled by demons.

Maybe, it's all part of the plan, he reasoned. When I get to the Sanctuary, I'll ask the Sentinel to explain everything.

Trying not to panic, he left his nighttime abode and set out toward the Sanctuary. He had crossed about half the distance already, and he figured he could reach the Sanctuary before it got dark. Even if he ran into more imps, he would be able to defeat them much faster with his new sword. He smiled at the idea of unlocking the next Path.

He peered out from behind the semicircle of stones before exiting the small cleft he had holed up in overnight. He activated Covetous Eyes but didn't see anything threatening. He stuck low to the ground and kept his blade outstretched. When nothing jumped out to bite him in the ass, he stood up and began walking.

He had learned the day prior that walking was more efficient than running. Although running and sprinting had their uses, the stamina drain was enough to make any battle afterward more difficult. It was also impossible to level his sneaking skill that way. When he had traveled enough to get his fourth level up in sneak, he ran into the first enemy of the day.

An imp was hunched over on the ground and frantically digging into the earth with its clawed fingers. Hunter noticed that it had laid its miniature trident on the ground, and he wondered how the imp had managed such a feat. He didn't like the idea that a basic imp might have more Willpower than he did. It was an insult to humanity.

He summoned a fireball to his hand and threw it at the unsuspecting imp. When it detonated, he was already sprinting into the blast. The fire had a satisfying effect as the imp was catapulted from whatever he was occupied with. The gauntlet had clearly increased in lethality since absorbing the essence of a few imps.

He didn't wait for the imp to get up from the unsuspecting attack. He swung his sword in an overhead chop, and the imp raised an arm to block. Before the blade hit the imps flesh, it lit up with verdant flame. Hunter was surprised when the blade sliced cleanly through blood and bone. The teenager had been lucky when the detached arm was the same limb that carried the imp's focus.

The sword sank an inch into the ground, and then Hunter twisted his body to flick the blade toward the sky. The uppercut grazed the imp's hairy leg and then continued to open up a black rent in the demon's side.

It hissed at the pain and opened its jaws to scream. Hunter had been subjected to an imp's scream-based attack more than once, so at the pinnacle of his upswing, he turned the sword and swung it horizontally like a bat. The blade wasn't long enough to strike a killing blow, but it parted the imps jaw and gave it a joker's smile. The demon's purplish tongue hung from its ruined mouth like a writhing cobra. It started choking on its onyx hued blood.

Thoroughly disarmed, the creature looked up at Hunter in fear. It was the first time one of the demons had ever looked at him in that way. He stopped to relish the feeling. He could feel power thrumming through the sword in his hand and the bracer on his arm. It felt satisfying in a way that he couldn't define.

He pointed his blade at the creature's head and then rammed it through to the hilt. He was rewarded with a notification informing him of an increase in his sword mastery. Black blood poured over the guard of his sword and covered his hands. At that moment, the fire on the blade blazed to life, and the demon gurgled as flames consumed it. In half a minute, the head collapsed into ash, and Hunter pulled his sword free. The fire continued to destroy the rest of the corpse, but Hunter had already turned away.

He mechanically picked up the imp's trident and bracer and fed them to his equipment. As usual, they became cold from the absorbed energy, but there weren't any substantial changes. Small curling inscriptions began to appear on his bracer's edges and up the length of his sword. They glowed green before settling in.

When they finished, he walked over to where the creature had been digging into the ground.